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The Aspirations of Japanese Undergraduate Students: Prospective Study on their Effects on Depression and Anxiety and Mediation by Adult Attachment

Received: 9 October 2014     Accepted: 24 October 2014     Published: 10 November 2014
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Abstract

The present study examined the connections among aspiration, depression, anxiety, attachment and stressful life events in a sample of 405 Japanese undergraduate students. At Time1 (T1), participants’ Dysphoric Mood (depression and anxiety rated by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale: HADS), Adult Attachment (rated by the Relationship Questionnaire) and factor-analysis-derived two dimensions of Aspiration (rated by the Aspiration Index) – Agency and Communality Aspirations – were measured. Three months later (Time2 [T2]), participants completed the HADS again and reported the impact of their most negative life event occurring during the interval between T1 and T2. After controlling for the direct path from T1 to T2 Dysphoric Mood, both T1 Dysphoric Mood and low Communality Aspiration predicted insecure Adult Attachment, which predicted the perception of Agency Stress, which in turn predicted T2 Dysphoric Mood. These findings suggest that adolescents’ Communality Aspiration is important in maintaining secure attachment and indirectly subsequent healthy psychological adjustment.

Published in Psychology and Behavioral Sciences (Volume 3, Issue 5)
DOI 10.11648/j.pbs.20140305.14
Page(s) 171-178
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2014. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Aspiration, Depression, Anxiety, Stressful Life Events, Adult Attachment

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Toshinori Kitamura, Nobuhiko Kijima, Mika Suzuki Takeuchi, Atsuko Tomoda. (2014). The Aspirations of Japanese Undergraduate Students: Prospective Study on their Effects on Depression and Anxiety and Mediation by Adult Attachment. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, 3(5), 171-178. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20140305.14

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    ACS Style

    Toshinori Kitamura; Nobuhiko Kijima; Mika Suzuki Takeuchi; Atsuko Tomoda. The Aspirations of Japanese Undergraduate Students: Prospective Study on their Effects on Depression and Anxiety and Mediation by Adult Attachment. Psychol. Behav. Sci. 2014, 3(5), 171-178. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20140305.14

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    AMA Style

    Toshinori Kitamura, Nobuhiko Kijima, Mika Suzuki Takeuchi, Atsuko Tomoda. The Aspirations of Japanese Undergraduate Students: Prospective Study on their Effects on Depression and Anxiety and Mediation by Adult Attachment. Psychol Behav Sci. 2014;3(5):171-178. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20140305.14

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  • @article{10.11648/j.pbs.20140305.14,
      author = {Toshinori Kitamura and Nobuhiko Kijima and Mika Suzuki Takeuchi and Atsuko Tomoda},
      title = {The Aspirations of Japanese Undergraduate Students: Prospective Study on their Effects on Depression and Anxiety and Mediation by Adult Attachment},
      journal = {Psychology and Behavioral Sciences},
      volume = {3},
      number = {5},
      pages = {171-178},
      doi = {10.11648/j.pbs.20140305.14},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20140305.14},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.pbs.20140305.14},
      abstract = {The present study examined the connections among aspiration, depression, anxiety, attachment and stressful life events in a sample of 405 Japanese undergraduate students. At Time1 (T1), participants’ Dysphoric Mood (depression and anxiety rated by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale: HADS), Adult Attachment (rated by the Relationship Questionnaire) and factor-analysis-derived two dimensions of Aspiration (rated by the Aspiration Index) – Agency and Communality Aspirations – were measured. Three months later (Time2 [T2]), participants completed the HADS again and reported the impact of their most negative life event occurring during the interval between T1 and T2. After controlling for the direct path from T1 to T2 Dysphoric Mood, both T1 Dysphoric Mood and low Communality Aspiration predicted insecure Adult Attachment, which predicted the perception of Agency Stress, which in turn predicted T2 Dysphoric Mood. These findings suggest that adolescents’ Communality Aspiration is important in maintaining secure attachment and indirectly subsequent healthy psychological adjustment.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

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    AU  - Toshinori Kitamura
    AU  - Nobuhiko Kijima
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    AB  - The present study examined the connections among aspiration, depression, anxiety, attachment and stressful life events in a sample of 405 Japanese undergraduate students. At Time1 (T1), participants’ Dysphoric Mood (depression and anxiety rated by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale: HADS), Adult Attachment (rated by the Relationship Questionnaire) and factor-analysis-derived two dimensions of Aspiration (rated by the Aspiration Index) – Agency and Communality Aspirations – were measured. Three months later (Time2 [T2]), participants completed the HADS again and reported the impact of their most negative life event occurring during the interval between T1 and T2. After controlling for the direct path from T1 to T2 Dysphoric Mood, both T1 Dysphoric Mood and low Communality Aspiration predicted insecure Adult Attachment, which predicted the perception of Agency Stress, which in turn predicted T2 Dysphoric Mood. These findings suggest that adolescents’ Communality Aspiration is important in maintaining secure attachment and indirectly subsequent healthy psychological adjustment.
    VL  - 3
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Author Information
  • Kitamura Institute of Mental Health Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

  • Psychological Laboratory, Keio University, Yokohama, Japan

  • Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Jissen Women’s University, Tokyo, Japan

  • Department of Psychology, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Human and Social Studies, Saitama Institute of Technology, Fukaya, Japan

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