Breaking apart or growing stronger? A communication perspective on the family as a young adult moves to college

Through everything in life from beginning to end, family is one place to find a strong bond between members in both a positive and negative way. This research specifically looks at changes in the family unit when the child moves away to college, giving consideration to the student's personal adjustment to college while also studying attachment to parents versus peers, using both quantitative and qualitative research to create a triangulated study. In the research findings, quantitative results indicate students do have a greater attachment to peers over parents. However, the qualitative analysis reviews this attachment further to find while students do cling to their peers over parents, they still rely on family for the important issues of life. In conclusion, while this time period of separation may temporarily strain relationships within the family unit, family is something that can not be broken, as it endures through all time.