The current study examined the relationships between the quality and quantity of time that young Black female college students spent with their fathers during high school as related to romantic attachment and fear of intimacy. Although researchers have investigated the impact that early attachment bonds to mothers have for later psychosocial development, much less research has examined how attachment to fathers may be associated with psychosocial adjustment in young adulthood. In particular, there is a lack of information on how relationships to one's father or father figure may be associated with adjustment in young women from culturally diverse populations.
To address this issue, a college student sample of Black women ( N = 185) completed an online survey that assessed paternal attachment, the quality and quantity of time fathers' spent with respondents during high school, general attachment, romantic attachment, and fear of intimacy. Specifically, participants completed the Parental Attachment Questionnaire (PAQ; Kenny, 1987), the Father-Daughter Scale (FDS; Brown, Thompson, & Traffimow, 2002), the Relationship Scales Questionnaire (RSQ, Griffin & Bartholomew, 1994), Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised (ECR-R; Fraley, Waller, & Brennan, 2000), and the Fear of Intimacy Scale (Descutner & Thelen, 1991).
It was hypothesized that women who reported better relationships with and spent more time with their fathers during high school would report more secure overall attachment, less anxious and avoidant attachment behaviors in their romantic relationships, and less fear of intimacy. As predicted, relationship to their fathers in high school significantly predicted anxiety and avoidance in romantic relationship; however, the only significant predictor of anxiety and avoidant romantic behaviors was respondents' reports of the affective quality of their relationships with their fathers. Specifically, higher affective quality predicted lower anxiety and avoidant behaviors in romantic relationships. However, results of the overall multiple regression did not yield support for the prediction that college student women who reported better relationships with their fathers would report less fear of intimacy in their romantic relationships. These results indicate that the affective quality of young Black women's relationships with their fathers is associated with the degree of anxiety and avoidant behaviors they report in their romantic relationships.
","abstract_html":"<p>The current study examined the relationships between the quality and quantity of time that young Black female college students spent with their fathers during high school as related to romantic attachment and fear of intimacy. Although researchers have investigated the impact that early attachment bonds to mothers have for later psychosocial development, much less research has examined how attachment to fathers may be associated with psychosocial adjustment in young adulthood. In particular, there is a lack of information on how relationships to one's father or father figure may be associated with adjustment in young women from culturally diverse populations.</p> <p>To address this issue, a college student sample of Black women (<em> N</em> = 185) completed an online survey that assessed paternal attachment, the quality and quantity of time fathers' spent with respondents during high school, general attachment, romantic attachment, and fear of intimacy. Specifically, participants completed the Parental Attachment Questionnaire (PAQ; Kenny, 1987), the Father-Daughter Scale (FDS; Brown, Thompson, & Traffimow, 2002), the Relationship Scales Questionnaire (RSQ, Griffin & Bartholomew, 1994), Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised (ECR-R; Fraley, Waller, & Brennan, 2000), and the Fear of Intimacy Scale (Descutner & Thelen, 1991).</p> <p>It was hypothesized that women who reported better relationships with and spent more time with their fathers during high school would report more secure overall attachment, less anxious and avoidant attachment behaviors in their romantic relationships, and less fear of intimacy. As predicted, relationship to their fathers in high school significantly predicted anxiety and avoidance in romantic relationship; however, the only significant predictor of anxiety and avoidant romantic behaviors was respondents' reports of the affective quality of their relationships with their fathers. Specifically, higher affective quality predicted lower anxiety and avoidant behaviors in romantic relationships. However, results of the overall multiple regression did not yield support for the prediction that college student women who reported better relationships with their fathers would report less fear of intimacy in their romantic relationships. These results indicate that the affective quality of young Black women's relationships with their fathers is associated with the degree of anxiety and avoidant behaviors they report in their romantic relationships.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Dock, Nicole A."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Michelle L. Kelley","Delanyard Robinson","Barbara Winstead","Joy A. Cooley","Janis Sanchez-Hucles"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2009,"date_issued":"2009-07-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2009-07-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:34:31Z","subjects":["Black fathers","Black women","College students","Father-daughter relationships","Relationships","Romantic attachment","Women students","African American Studies","Clinical Psychology","Social Psychology","Women's Studies"],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["9781109510782"],"render_values":[{"text":"9781109510782","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/psychology_etds/198","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Michelle L. Kelley","Delanyard Robinson","Barbara Winstead","Joy A. Cooley","Janis Sanchez-Hucles"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Dock, Nicole A."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2019-04-08T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Black fathers","Black women","College students","Father-daughter relationships","Relationships","Romantic attachment","Women students","African American Studies","Clinical Psychology","Social Psychology","Women's Studies"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["9781109510782","https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/psychology_etds/198"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The current study examined the relationships between the quality and quantity of time that young Black female college students spent with their fathers during high school as related to romantic attachment and fear of intimacy. Although researchers have investigated the impact that early attachment bonds to mothers have for later psychosocial development, much less research has examined how attachment to fathers may be associated with psychosocial adjustment in young adulthood. In particular, there is a lack of information on how relationships to one's father or father figure may be associated with adjustment in young women from culturally diverse populations.
To address this issue, a college student sample of Black women ( N = 185) completed an online survey that assessed paternal attachment, the quality and quantity of time fathers' spent with respondents during high school, general attachment, romantic attachment, and fear of intimacy. Specifically, participants completed the Parental Attachment Questionnaire (PAQ; Kenny, 1987), the Father-Daughter Scale (FDS; Brown, Thompson, & Traffimow, 2002), the Relationship Scales Questionnaire (RSQ, Griffin & Bartholomew, 1994), Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised (ECR-R; Fraley, Waller, & Brennan, 2000), and the Fear of Intimacy Scale (Descutner & Thelen, 1991).
It was hypothesized that women who reported better relationships with and spent more time with their fathers during high school would report more secure overall attachment, less anxious and avoidant attachment behaviors in their romantic relationships, and less fear of intimacy. As predicted, relationship to their fathers in high school significantly predicted anxiety and avoidance in romantic relationship; however, the only significant predictor of anxiety and avoidant romantic behaviors was respondents' reports of the affective quality of their relationships with their fathers. Specifically, higher affective quality predicted lower anxiety and avoidant behaviors in romantic relationships. However, results of the overall multiple regression did not yield support for the prediction that college student women who reported better relationships with their fathers would report less fear of intimacy in their romantic relationships. These results indicate that the affective quality of young Black women's relationships with their fathers is associated with the degree of anxiety and avoidant behaviors they report in their romantic relationships.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Relationships Between Black Female College Students' Relationships with Their Fathers and Adult Romantic Attachment"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Michelle L. Kelley","Delanyard Robinson","Barbara Winstead","Joy A. Cooley","Janis Sanchez-Hucles"],"dc:creator":["Dock, Nicole A."],"dc:date.available":["2019-04-08T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The current study examined the relationships between the quality and quantity of time that young Black female college students spent with their fathers during high school as related to romantic attachment and fear of intimacy. Although researchers have investigated the impact that early attachment bonds to mothers have for later psychosocial development, much less research has examined how attachment to fathers may be associated with psychosocial adjustment in young adulthood. In particular, there is a lack of information on how relationships to one's father or father figure may be associated with adjustment in young women from culturally diverse populations.
To address this issue, a college student sample of Black women ( N = 185) completed an online survey that assessed paternal attachment, the quality and quantity of time fathers' spent with respondents during high school, general attachment, romantic attachment, and fear of intimacy. Specifically, participants completed the Parental Attachment Questionnaire (PAQ; Kenny, 1987), the Father-Daughter Scale (FDS; Brown, Thompson, & Traffimow, 2002), the Relationship Scales Questionnaire (RSQ, Griffin & Bartholomew, 1994), Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised (ECR-R; Fraley, Waller, & Brennan, 2000), and the Fear of Intimacy Scale (Descutner & Thelen, 1991).
It was hypothesized that women who reported better relationships with and spent more time with their fathers during high school would report more secure overall attachment, less anxious and avoidant attachment behaviors in their romantic relationships, and less fear of intimacy. As predicted, relationship to their fathers in high school significantly predicted anxiety and avoidance in romantic relationship; however, the only significant predictor of anxiety and avoidant romantic behaviors was respondents' reports of the affective quality of their relationships with their fathers. Specifically, higher affective quality predicted lower anxiety and avoidant behaviors in romantic relationships. However, results of the overall multiple regression did not yield support for the prediction that college student women who reported better relationships with their fathers would report less fear of intimacy in their romantic relationships. These results indicate that the affective quality of young Black women's relationships with their fathers is associated with the degree of anxiety and avoidant behaviors they report in their romantic relationships.
"],"dc:identifier":["9781109510782","https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/psychology_etds/198"],"dc:rights":["In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
"],"dc:subject":["Black fathers","Black women","College students","Father-daughter relationships","Relationships","Romantic attachment","Women students","African American Studies","Clinical Psychology","Social Psychology","Women's Studies"],"dc:title":["Relationships Between Black Female College Students' Relationships with Their Fathers and Adult Romantic Attachment"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:34:31Z"}