Authors *Dr. Asma Parveen *Uzaina Adolescents’ adjustment behaviour and self image: role of parent and peer attachment Authors *Dr. Asma Parveen *Uzaina * associate professor

Parent and peer attachment Attachment is generally defined as an enduring affectionate bond of substantial intensity. Bowlby's theoretical work conceptualizes the formation of attachments in infancy, and explains the emotional and psychological disturbances that may result at any age from their actual or threatened disruption.

Adjustment behaviour Everyone alive has troubles and problem, the most important consideration in determining personal effectiveness is not the amount of misfortune(within limits) a person encounters but how he responds and adjust to the challenges of life. Adjustment is dynamic rather than static in nature. Which means we change, our environment change too. Thus how well a person is able to deal with environmental factors will directly influence his adjustment behaviour.

Self-image Self-image is a person’s mental image about him/herself, that have been learned by that person either from personal experiences or by internalizing the judgment of others. According to Rogers, there are two aspects of the self- (i) the self-image or the perceived self or the real self which is concerned with “who I am?” or “what I am?” (ii) The ideal which is concerned with “what I can become?” or “what I should be?” It is essential that these two aspects should maintain balance between themselves. If there is discrepancy between two aspects then conflict rises.

Methodology Recruitment and Procedures Participants were 80 (40 females, 40 males) students from senior secondary school, Aligarh Muslim University. Surveys were administered in groups in a separate classroom during school hours and took approximately forty minutes to an hour to complete.

Purpose: 1. To assess the attachment level of adolescents with parents and peer. 2. To study the adjustment behaviour among adolescents. 3. To asses adolescent’s self-image and its relation with parent and peer attachment.

Variables- Independent variable: 1) Gender - Biologically categorized as male and female gender is the independent variable in the present study. 2) Attachment with parents and peers - Attachment level with parents and peers in the present study has been defined in terms of the responses obtained on the Inventory of parent and Peer Attachment.

Dependent variable: 1) Adjustment Behaviour- adjustment behaviour in the present study was defined in terms of the responses obtained on the questionnaire for measuring adjustment behaviour. 2) Self-image- self-image in the present study was defined in terms of the responses obtained on the self-analysis inventory.

Assumptions 1) Girls will have higher level of attachment with mothers and peers. 2) Boys will have higher level of attachment with fathers in comparison to girls. 3) There will be positive correlation between peer attachment and adolescents’ adjustment. 4) There will be negative correlation between parental and peer attachment and adolescents’ self-image in terms of ideal self-discrepancy.

Tools and administration: a) Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment by Gay. C. Armsden and Mark T. Greenberg (1987). There were three parts in the questionnaire which asks about the kind of relationships adolescents share with their mother, father, and close friends. Each of the parts contains 25 statements. Mother, Father, and Peer Attachment scores are calculated by reverse-scoring the items whose numbers were listed to be reversed and then summing all 25 items for each scale.

b) An Adjustment Inventory by Dr. J. Penny In the present adjustment inventory there are 50 items, covering 10 each items to Family, Educational, Financial and emotional adjustment. Scoring was done by counting the number of answers marked below the column ‘yes’ in each adjustment. No weightage is given to the responses under ’no’ column.

c) Self-analysis test by Dr. Rama Tiwari This test consists of 30 pairs of adjectives followed by their responses given in the form of a seven point scale, ranging from 7(strongly agree) to 1(strongly disagree). There were two sub scales in the test consisting of 30 pairs of adjectives respectively, that were- (a) “Considering Myself as” and (b) “I should be as”. Scoring was done by counting that particular number where the subject had marked tick and then adding all of them separately for both the sub scales. For obtaining SID (ideal self-Discrepancy), scores- “I consider myself” was subtracted from “ I should be.”

Result and discussion Table 1: showing mean score of girls and boys and the t value showing the level of significance.

Table 2: showing mean score of girls and boys and the t value showing the level of significance. The mean scores of girls and boys on adjustment behaviour was 37.500 and 31.075 respectively. The t-value obtained was -4.635 which was “insignificant.” Adjustment behaviour of girls was higher than the boys which means girls were more properly adjusted in comparison to boys.

Table 3: showing mean score of girls and boys and the t value showing the level of significance. the mean score of girls and boys on self-image discrepancy was found to be 5.975 and 6.525 respectively. The t-value obtained was 0.837 which was “significant” at 0.5 levels and 0.1 levels. Self-image discrepancy was found to high among boys.

The correlation was found to be positive . Table 4- showing correlation between parental and peers attachment with adjustment behaviour. The correlation was found to be positive .

Table 5- showing correlation between attachment with parents and peers and self-image in terms of adolescents’ ideal self-discrepancy The correlation was found to be negative which supported our assumption.

Thus from the above results the main findings are- a) Positive correlation was found between parental and peers attachment and adjustment behaviour of adolescents, hence proving our first assumption of the study. b) Negative correlation was found between adolescents’ parental and peer attachment with self- image in terms of self-discrepancy, hence proving our second assumption.

Conclusion: The purpose of the present study was to assess the attachment level of girls and boys with parents and peers and its role on their adjustment behaviour and self- image. Inventory of parent and peer attachment (IIPA) was used for assessing the adolescent’s attachment level with parents and peers. 40 girls and 40 boys were used as a sample for research. All of them were intermediate students. The attachment level of females with their parents was higher in comparison to males. This finding supports the study done by Kenny and Donaldson (1991) who found that women were more attached to their parents and felt that parents had a more significant role in emotional support in their lives. Whereas, the difference between the mean score of females and males for attachment level with mother and peer was found to be significant at 0.5 levels and 0.1 levels. The correlation was found to be positive between parent and peer attachment. Negative correlation was found between self-image discrepancy score of adolescents in relation to their attachment level with parents and peers.

Thank you UZAINA