The relation between attachment and adjustment mediated by separation-individuation

The aim of this study is to test, the relation between parental secure attachment and adjustment in mediated by healthy separation-individuation the Turkish Culture. Because of this, Model 1 and Model 2 were formed. In Model 1, the relation between parental secure attachment and personal and social adjustment mediated by healthy separation-individuation was examine. In Model 2, the relation between parental secure attachment and personal adjustment mediated by healthy separation-individuation was examine.To test these models, study group consisted of 699 freshmen and seniors from Faculty of Education at Ankara University, Faculty of Education, Faculty of Dentistry, School of Nursing at Gazi University, Faculty of Education, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Food Engineering, Faculty of Fine Arts, Faculty of Economical and Administrative Sciences at Hacettepe University, Faculty of Architecture at Middle East Technical University in the spring semester of 2006-2007.In this study, separation-individuation of the students were measured by three subscales (separation anxiety, engulfment anxiety, rejection expectancy) of the ?Separation-Individuation Test of Adolescence; SITA? developed by Levine, Green ve Millon (1986) and adapted and translated by the researcher of this study into the Turkish Language. To assess the parental secure attachment of student ?Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment, IPPA? which is adapted in Turkish by Günaydın, Selçuk, Sümer ve Uysal (2005) was administered. Personal and social adjustment were measured by Hacettepe Personality Inventory that was developed by Ozguven (1992). In order to analyze data, package programs of SPSS 10.0 and Lisrel 8.54 were utilized. Total points for all scales implemented in study group was computed. Structural Equation Models Analyses were conducted with these total points. Significance level was establish as 0.05.According the findings of this research; that the relation between parental secure attachment and personal and social adjustment mediated by healthy separation-individuation is not supported. Besides this, the relation between parental secure attachment and personal adjustment mediated by healthy separation-individuation is supported. Research findings are interpreted after discussing them with the research findings in similar fields before. For research and practice several recomendations were made.Key Words: Separation Individuation, Parental Secure Attachment, Adjustment, Late Adolescents.