Parent-Child Closeness and Coping Outcomes in Emerging Adulthood

Parents continue to play a pivotal role in their children’s social and emotional adjustment into emerging adulthood (Mounts et al., 2006). This project examined the effect of parentemerging adult closeness on emerging adult coping responses, and whether this association varied as a function of parent-child contact. The sample consisted of 180 undergraduate students (M age = 19.6, SD = 1.05, 78% female) from the University of Vermont. Participants reported on their closeness with their parent(s), their coping responses, and their patterns of contact with their parent(s). As predicted, parent-emerging adult closeness was predictive of emerging adults’ coping responses. The relationship was not, however, moderated by mode or frequency of communication. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed. PARENT-CHILD CLOSENESS AND COPING Stormberg 4 Emerging adulthood refers to a theorized developmental stage between adolescence and adulthood, encompassing ages 18 to 25 (Arnett, 2015). Emerging adulthood often involves significant personal growth; exploration in identity, relationships, work, and ideologies; and the pursuit of higher education (Arnett, 2015). Although many aspects of emerging adulthood are considered adaptive, the transition from adolescence to emerging adulthood is also characterized by instability and increasing stressors, such as greater financial, social, and emotional burdens (Arnett, 2015; Sax, 1997). A large subset of the emerging adult population attends college, which has its own unique demands. Between 30 and 43% of college students drop out of school, with the stress of balancing school, work, and family as the most frequently cited reason (Tinto, 1993). Additionally, reports of stress, depression, anxiety, and serious suicidal ideation among college students have been consistently increasing over time in severity (Sax, 1997; CCMH, 2015). This is a substantial concern, as chronically high levels of stress during youth are associated with greater subsequent risk of disease, mental illness, and mortality (Juster, McEwen, & Lupien, 2010). Adaptive coping behaviors are essential for managing stress and reducing risk for psychopathology (Compas, Connor-Smith, Saltzman, Thomsen, & Wadsworth, 2001). Individual coping behavior is a strong predictor of mental health outcomes in college populations (Byrd & McKinney, 2012); however, in contrast to research on childhood and adolescence (Compas et al., 2001; Connor-Smith, Compas, Wadsworth, Thomsen, & Saltzman, 2000) little is known about what influences healthy coping behavior during the developmental period of emerging adulthood. Although a great deal of research suggests that parent-child closeness is important to childhood and adolescent coping (Compas et al., 2001; Ramsden & Hubbard, 2002; Kliewer, Fearnow, & Miller, 1996), less is known about how these influences upon coping behavior might PARENT-CHILD CLOSENESS AND COPING Stormberg 5 change under the unique demands of emerging adulthood. Additionally, with the increasing use of new technologies to keep in touch (Pew Research, 2014), the frequency and method of communication between emerging adults and parents also may play a crucial role in this relationship. Therefore, the goal of the present research is to examine the influence of the parentemerging adult relationship on coping responses in college, as well as the impact of technological communication upon this relationship. The research is intended to inform efforts to improve emerging adults’ coping responses during periods of heightened stress. Coping and Involuntary Responses to Stress Research on coping behaviors in young people is essential to determining how to most productively help them face stressful situations (Compas et al., 2001). Adaptive stress responses also change throughout development; thus, it is important to examine coping over time to understand the developmental trajectory of adaptive coping behavior (Skinner & ZimmerGembeck, 2007). This study focuses on coping responses in emerging adulthood, a developmental period in which youth may be particularly vulnerable to stress, and in which coping is understudied. Under Compas and colleagues’ coping framework, voluntary coping refers to the individual’s conscious efforts to address a stressful situation or its related emotions (ConnorSmith et al., 2000). Coping responses can be characterized as engagement or disengagement responses. An engagement response directs attention to the source of stress or related emotions via strategies such as problem solving, emotion regulation, and social support seeking. Alternatively, disengagement turns attention away from the stressor, via strategies such as avoidance, denial, and wishful thinking (Connor-Smith et al., 2000). Engagement responses are generally more adaptive and are associated with lower levels of internalizing and externalizing PARENT-CHILD CLOSENESS AND COPING Stormberg 6 symptoms (Connor-Smith et al., 2000; Compas et al., 2006). Disengagement coping responses to stress, however, tend to be maladaptive; disengagement coping is related to higher risk for behavioral and emotional problems (Connor-Smith et al., 2000), including higher levels of depression and anxiety for adolescents (Compas et al., 2006). Some researchers have begun to look at the effects of coping on adjustment in emerging adult populations. In most cases, the findings are in line with the research on coping in children and adolescents. For instance, in a sample of trauma-exposed students, the use of negative coping strategies (i.e., avoidance or self-blame, which are similar to disengagement coping) was associated with the onset of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder symptoms over the first two years of college. The study also found a bidirectional effect, suggesting that negative coping may both influence and be influenced by PTSD symptoms (Read, Griffin, Wardell, & Ouimette, 2014). Additionally, Villegas-Gold and Yoo (2014) examined how coping with instances of racial discrimination among Mexican American college students may mediate their subjective experience of wellbeing. Engagement coping in response to discrimination (i.e., problem solving) was positively associated with subjective wellbeing, and disengagement responses to discrimination (i.e., social withdrawal and wishful thinking) were negatively associated with subjective wellbeing (Villegas & Yoo, 2014). The detrimental effects of disengagement coping are also evident in research by Lee & Liu (2001) in which college students’ indirect coping, which is similar to disengagement coping, mediated the effects of intergenerational conflict within their families on their own psychological distress. These studies indicate that college students’ use of coping strategies can buffer or enhance risk for a variety of psychosocial outcomes, depending on the type of coping implemented by the emerging adult. PARENT-CHILD CLOSENESS AND COPING Stormberg 7 Although the characteristics and consequences of emerging adults’ use of different coping strategies have been documented, less is known about what factors predict these coping responses in emerging adulthood. The current study examined parent-emerging adult closeness as a potential predictor of emerging adult coping responses. Parent-child closeness The influence of parents on the development and socialization of children’s coping responses is well studied (Kliewer et al., 1996; Ramsden & Hubbard, 2002; Skinner & ZimmerGembeck, 2007; Cappa et al., 2011). Additionally, attachment theory, first proposed by John Bowlby (1969) to explain the significance of infant-parent interactions, has also been applied to relationships in later life. Adult attachment theory states that one’s initial attachment style heavily influences interpersonal relationships and coping responses from childhood to adulthood (Hazan & Shaver, 1987). Supporting this idea, college students with secure attachment relationships tend to integrate and adapt better to college life, whereas students with insecure attachments tend to use more avoidant coping and are less likely to be successful in their adjustment (Lopez, Mitchell, & Gormley, 2002). Although most emerging adults remain in close contact with their parents (Urry, Nelson, & Padilla-Walker, 2011), the direct relevance of parents to their child’s coping responses becomes less clear as the child ages and gains more autonomy in their transition to adulthood. A small body of literature suggests that parents continue to play a role in their emerging adults’ coping responses. For instance, a recent study of an emerging adult population found that coping mediated the relationship between time spent with a parent or guardian and the emerging adult’s mental health and substance use (Hurd, Stoddard, Bauermeister, & Zimmerman, 2014). Specifically, increased activities shared with a parent or parental mentor was associated with PARENT-CHILD CLOSENESS AND COPING Stormberg 8 adaptive coping responses, which in turn were negatively associated with psychopathology and substance use. However, the parent-emerging adult relationship is not always a positive influence on coping mechanisms; Abaied and Emond (2013) found that high levels of parental psychological control were related to maladaptive coping responses (e.g., disengagement coping). Abaied, Wagner, & Sanders (2014) found that parents’ direct suggestions about coping predicted emerging adults’ coping; engagement suggestions predicted adaptive responses, whereas disengagement suggestions predicted maladaptive responses (although this was moderated by the emerging adult’s physiology). Parental input may therefore contribute to either adaptive or maladaptive coping, depending upon the way parents advise coping strategies and model how to face challenges. Parents’ encouragement or undermining of adaptive coping seems to play a role in emerging adults’ response to stress during