Poster #223 - Associations between Social Support, Attachment Style, and Emotional Intelligence following Exposure to Adversity

• In Event: 2-055 - Poster Session 06
  In Poster Session: PS 06 Section - Social Relationships

Integrative Statement

Background: Trauma exposure has been shown to negatively affect functioning across the lifespan. While previous research has examined the impact of trauma on development, including a focus on the effects of trauma on emotional intelligence, there is a dearth of literature on how protective factors may influence emotional intelligence in emerging adults who have been exposed to adversity. Further, limited research has differentiated between protective factors associated with the family system and those related to friendship networks. The present study aims to address this research gap by assessing the relationships between social support (family vs. friends), attachment styles (caregiver vs. non-familial relationships, and emotional intelligence.
Methods: The sample included 238 emerging adults (Mage= 19.65, 58% white, 83% female) attending a Midsouth university. Participants completed a battery of self-report measures via an online subject pool system and received course credit as compensation for their time. It was hypothesized that more social support from family, more social support from friends, less caregiver and non-familial anxious attachment, and less caregiver and non-familial avoidant attachment would be associated with higher emotional intelligence in emerging adults exposed to adversity, controlling for aspects of the adversity and demographic factors.
Results: Using a hierarchical linear regression, model one predicted emotional intelligence from the frequency of trauma exposure, sex, race, and physical health. This model was not significant. The second model, which added family support and caregiver attachment, was significant (F(7,230) = 8.15, p < .001), R2 = .17. In this model, frequency of trauma, family support, anxious caregiver attachment, and avoidant caregiver attachment were significantly related to emotional intelligence. The third model, which added friend social support and non-familial attachment styles (i.e. attachment to best friend and significant other), was significant (F(10,227) = 11.54, p < .001), R2 = .31. In this model, higher emotional intelligence was related to less avoidant attachment to caregiver, (ß = -.23, p = .04), less avoidant attachment to non-family members (ß = -.74, p < .01), more social support from family, (ß = .43, p = .03), and more support from friends (ß = .50, p = .02). Anxious attachment was not associated with emotional intelligence in this final model.
Conclusions: Results indicate that avoidant attachment to both family and friends is negatively associated with emotional intelligence, while anxious attachment did not significantly affect emotional intelligence. Further, social support from both family and friends was related to more emotional intelligence. Thus, researchers and clinicians seeking to enhance emotional intelligence following exposure to adversity should encourage emerging adults to seek support both within and outside the family system. Further, these results highlight the detrimental effects of avoiding connections to both family and friends, particularly caregivers and significant others. Results may be unique to the emerging adulthood period when family and friend networks are both highly influential on development and functioning.

Authors

• Hanna Sheddan, University of Memphis
  Presenting Author

• Taylor Rae Napier, University of Memphis
  Non-Presenting Author

• Laura Schwartz, University of Memphis
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kathryn Howell, University of Memphis
  Non-Presenting Author