Assessment of The Relationship between Parent-Emerging Adults Attachment Patterns and Development of Emotional Competencies: Case of Students in Selected Universities in Goma Town, Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
Loading...
Date
2024
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Daystar University, School of Applied Human Sciences
Abstract
The study focused on the influence of parent-emerging adult attachment patterns on development of emotional competencies of undergraduates in GOMA Town, Eastern DRC. Its objectives were to assess the parent-emerging adult attachment patterns in selected universities, establish the emotional competences of undergraduate students in selected universities, determine the influence of parent-emerging adult attachment patterns on development of emotional competencies of undergraduate students, and examine the moderating effect of armed conflict on the relationship between parent-emerging adult attachment patterns and development of emotional competencies. The attachment theory, the social learning theory and the Theory of Emerging Adulthood guided this investigation. The study utilized a cross-sectional research design and targeted all 2430 current undergraduate students aged between 18-22 years from two universities in Goma Town, Eastern DRC. The Cochrane formula was used to compute the sample size of 138 students who were then selected using both purposive sampling and systematic random sampling. The research instruments consisted of a self-administered socio-demographic questionnaire designed by the researcher and a standardized Revised Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (R-IPPA) and the Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i). The collected data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical methods with the aid of SPSS version 27. The study found that there was evidence of all the four types of attachment being investigated in the study, that is, ambivalent, avoidant, disorganized and secure. Secure parent-emerging adult attachment was the most common attachment pattern between parents and the undergraduates. The study also found that that most students were emotionally competent. The study equally found that parent-emerging adult (student) attachment patterns significantly affected the emotional competence of undergraduate students in Goma, DRC. The concluded that armed conflict was not a moderating variable in the relationship between parent-emerging adult attachment patterns and the development of emotional competencies. The study therefore recommended that during counselling, the parents, especially the new parents need to be counseled on the needs and benefits of cultivating secure parent-children attachment for the mental health of their children and also by extension the parents themselves. Also, students experiencing these low levels of emotional competence should be encouraged to bond with others, especially the more experienced persons of significance in their lives to enable them to gain more confidence in themselves. Further, the universities counselling departments need to find ways of engaging the parents of the most adversely affected students and the students on the ways of improving their attachment with their children and vice versa. Finally, there is need for students in the area to undergo professional counseling to help them find ways of improving their emotional competence.
Description
MASTER OF ARTS in Clinical Psychology
Keywords
Parent-emerging adult attachment patterns, Development of emotional competencies, Undergraduates, ambivalent, avoidant, disorganized and secure
Citation
Muke, E. L. (2024). Assessment of The Relationship between Parent-Emerging Adults Attachment Patterns and Development of Emotional Competencies: Case of Students in Selected Universities in Goma Town, Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Daystar University, School of Applied Human Sciences