The purpose of this study was to develop a scale to measure attachment to parents, and to examine the role of the attachment in adjustment to transitional stress. Brennan, Clark & Shaver (1998) proposed two attachment facets of anxiety and avoidance, and in this study, a scale intended to tap the two toward parents was constructed. In Study 1, attachment to parents, self-acceptance, and parent-child relationship were examined. Factor analysis revealed two factors in the attachment: Anxiety to Attachment and Avoidance of Attachment. Two subscales corresponding to the factors showed good reliability and validity. In Study 2, the role of the attachment in social environmental adjustment was examined through a short-term longitudinal study, focusing on school transition. Attachment to parents, self-esteem, loneliness, and college life anxiety of first-year students were measured. Results revealed that those high on Anxiety to Attachment showed larger increases in loneliness and apprehension toward interpersonal relationship between two time periods than the low. The findings suggested that those who were low on the Anxiety were able to cope better with stress arising from loneliness and apprehension toward interpersonal relationship.

Key words: attachment to parents, adjustment process, social environmental transition, stress