Natalie Byrd

Student at St. John Fisher University

Attachment, Loneliness, and Self-Concept: Examining the Mediating Role of Self-Concept During the Transition to College


Journal article


Natalie S Byrd, Jessica R Robinson
In Preparation

Cite

Cite

APA   Click to copy
Byrd, N. S., & Robinson, J. R. Attachment, Loneliness, and Self-Concept: Examining the Mediating Role of Self-Concept During the Transition to College. In Preparation.


Chicago/Turabian   Click to copy
Byrd, Natalie S, and Jessica R Robinson. “Attachment, Loneliness, and Self-Concept: Examining the Mediating Role of Self-Concept During the Transition to College.” In Preparation (n.d.).


MLA   Click to copy
Byrd, Natalie S., and Jessica R. Robinson. “Attachment, Loneliness, and Self-Concept: Examining the Mediating Role of Self-Concept During the Transition to College.” In Preparation.


BibTeX   Click to copy

@article{natalie-a,
  title = {Attachment, Loneliness, and Self-Concept: Examining the Mediating Role of Self-Concept During the Transition to College},
  journal = {In Preparation},
  author = {Byrd, Natalie S and Robinson, Jessica R}
}

Proposal:
Attachment and loneliness have a strong relationship, often with mediating variables such as social skills, interpersonal trust, and self-efficacy. Loneliness is a severe and increasing problem in the United States, especially among late adolescents during their transition to college. This study seeks to explore self-concept as a mediator between attachment and loneliness during that transition. Self-concept refers to a collection of domain specific self-evaluations involving traits, values, episodic and semantic memories that control the processing of self-relevant information. It is anticipated that attachment type (secure, avoidant, ambivalent, or dismissing-avoidant) will influence the experienced loneliness (overall, social, or emotional) and self-concept will modulate the magnitude of loneliness. Specifically, it is hypothesized that a secure attachment style will affect overall loneliness, an avoidant style will affect only social loneliness, an ambivalent style will affect only emotional loneliness, and a dismissing-avoidant style will not affect any loneliness. In regards to magnitude, high self-concept will result in lower loneliness, very high or very low self-concept will result in moderate loneliness, and low self-concept will result in higher loneliness. This study uses measures including the 4-item Relationships Questionnaire (RQ) for attachment, the short 6-item De John Gierveld Loneliness Scale for loneliness, and the 20-item short form of the Tennessee Self Concept Scale Second Edition (TSCS:2) for self-concept. By revealing the interplay of attachment, loneliness, and self-concept in the context of late adolescence transitioning to college, this study promises valuable insights to educators and higher education staff. Data collection is scheduled for early 2024 with a manuscript and poster projected to be completed by mid Summer 2024.

To be presented at APA2024, NECTOP, and the Fisher Showcase.