Adult attachment patterns among a sample of psychological counseling students at Lattakia University

Abstract

The present study aims to identify the common attachment styles among a sample of psychology counseling students at Lattakia University, it seeks to explore the differences in attachment styles within the sample based on variables such as academic year (first and fifth years) and family birth order (firstborn, middle child, lastborn). To achieve the research objectives, the researcher employed a descriptive methodology, utilizing the Attachment Styles Scale for Adults developed by Van Oudenhoven (2004) and modified by Polek (2008), along with a translation by the researcher. The scale comprises 24 items distributed across four dimensions:( secure, anxious, avoidant , and preoccupied attachment styles). Participants respond to each item using five alternatives :( always, often, sometimes, rarely, never). The scale was administered to a sample of (107) students in the Psychology Counseling Department at the Faculty of Education at Lattakia University, selected through a random cluster sampling method. The findings revealed that the most common attachment style among the study participants, in descending order, is the avoidant (around 3.77), followed by the secure (around 3.7), then the anxious (around 2.53), and finally the preoccupied style (around 2.31). There were no significant differences in adult attachment styles based on the academic year or family birth order. Based on the study results,  the researcher offers the following recommendations: to establish training courses for those preparing for marriage about handling children in their early years, to conduct group therapy sessions for psychology counseling students to modify insecure attachment styles, to focus on therapeutic techniques in the scientific aspect and to investigate adult attachment styles in further humanistic disciplines such as medical colleges.