Navigating the transition

Anotace: The study investigated the joint and relative contribution of attachment styles to college adjustment among first-year undergraduates. A correlational research approach was embraced for the study. A total of 677 (males=285; females=392) first-year undergraduates from two universities in Oyo State, Nigeria, selected through a stratified random sampling procedure participated in the study. Two major instruments: The Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ; α= .96) and Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ; α= .88) were used for data generation. Pearson Product Moment Correlation and Multiple regression model were used to analyse the data generated. The outcomes showed that the components of attachment styles jointly predicted each of the modules of college adjustment: Academic, 33% (R2 = .339; F(5,671) = 68.846; p<.001); social 44% (R2 = .446; F(5,671) = 107.880; p<.001); personal-emotional, 33% (R2 = .335; F(5,671) = 67.720; p<.001); and institutional, 40% (R2 = .406; F(4,672) = 91.585; p<.001). Based on the relative contributions of each predictor variable after controlling for the age of the participants, Secure Attachment positively predicted all the components of SACQ whereas Dismissing and Fearful Styles inversely predicted all the components. Preoccupied style negatively predicted academics and personal-emotional but not social and institutional adjustments. In addition, the controlled variable also predicted all the components of adjustment styles. Secure Attachment style was the only component of attachment styles associated with better adjustment to college life. It was then recommended that attributes of Secure Attachment should be incorporated, promoted and sustained by the support services department in universities for improvement of adjustment to college life.