Family functioning, attachment security, and psychological stress among university students attending a psychological counselling service: an exploratory cluster analysis.
BACKGROUND Psychological stress is highly prevalent during higher education studies but mental health trajectories are shaped by risk and protective factors. Attachment security and balanced family functioning might reduce students' psychological stress but literature is still limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between psychological stress, family functioning, and adult attachment in order to identify more vulnerable groups. METHOD A sample of university students self-referring to an on-campus counselling service (n = 171; 81.9% female and 18.1% male; Mean age = 22.53 years, SD = 3.35) was assessed for psychological stress, family functioning, and adult attachment. A Two-Step Cluster Analysis and ANOVA were conducted to identify cluster groups reflecting distinct profiles and to test between-group differences. RESULTS Sixty-three percent (63.2%) scored above the CORE-OM clinical cut-off. Distress correlated positively with unbalanced family patterns (Disengaged, Enmeshed, Rigid, Chaotic) and with Attachment Anxiety and Avoidance; and negatively with Cohesion, Flexibility, Satisfaction, and Communication. A two-cluster solution emerged: (1) High Distress / Low Relational Functioning with lower balanced functioning, higher unbalanced patterns, and higher attachment insecurity; and (2) Low Distress / High Relational Functioning with the complementary pattern. CONCLUSIONS Student distress was systematically intertwined with family functioning and attachment, and coalesced into two clinically meaningful profiles. Findings support mechanism-focused, stepped care in campus services: low-distress students may benefit from low-intensity psychoeducation and skills rehearsal, whereas high-distress students may require brief, structured modules targeting communication, boundary-setting, and emotion regulation, with referral pathways activated when complexity or acute risk is present.