The Effects Of Peer Attachment And Self-concealment On Secondary Vocational Students’ Loneliness

Loneliness is a quite common problem in secondary vocational students.Plenty researches has been done on this topic,but the impact of peer attachment including the two classical dimension,attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance,and self-concealment on loneliness was rarely noticed.This research was conducted on secondary vocational students,using cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis.The questionnaires include Experiences in Close Relationships-Relationship Structures Questionnaire,Self-concealment Scale and UCLA Loneliness scale.Study 1 mainly explored the short-term effects of peer attachment,self-concealment on loneliness,and the mediating role of self-concealment between peer attachment and loneliness through the cross-sectional research.A total 1173 students were investigated,including 339 female students.The results showed that:(1)there were significantly and positively correlated between peer attachment avoidance,peer attachment anxiety,self-concealment and loneliness;(2)There were significant gender differences in peer attachment avoidance,peer attachment anxiety and loneliness;there are significant gender differences in peer attachment avoidance and loneliness in grade,and peer attachment anxiety was marginal significant of grade;(3)self-concealment played a partial mediating role between peer attachment avoidance and loneliness,and selfconcealment played a partial mediating role between peer attachment anxiety and loneliness.Study 2 explored the longitudinal development and changes of peer attachment,self-concealment and loneliness through three longitudinal tracking over one year,and analyzed the causal relationship through the cross-lag model.After data matching,the effective participates in this study were 668 students,including 185 female students.The results showed that:(1)There was a significant positive correlation between peer attachment avoidance,peer attachment anxiety,self-concealment and loneliness at three time points;(2)There were significant gender differences in T1 peer attachment avoidance and T1 peer attachment anxiety,and T1 loneliness was marginal significant of gender;(3)Early loneliness can significantly and positively predict the self-concealment in the medium term,and selfconcealment in the medium term can significantly and positively predict peer attachment avoidance in the later period;early peer attachment anxiety can significantly and positively predict the self-concealment in the medium term,and self-concealment in the medium term can significantly and positively predict loneliness in the later period.In conclusion,self-concealment plays an immediate and delayed role in the effect of peer attachment anxiety on loneliness;Self-concealment plays an immediate mediating role in the effect of peer attachment avoidance on loneliness,but it plays a delayed mediating role in the longitudinal effect of loneliness on peer attachment avoidance.