Romantic Attachment and Adjustment to Divorce and Separation in a Chilean Adult Sample

ABSTRACT

This study aims to assess the extent to which the dimensions of romantic attachment, anxiety over abandonment, and avoidance of intimacy predict adjustment to divorce and separation. A sample of 190 Chilean participants, either separated or divorced, self-reported measures of romantic attachment and adjustment to divorce and separation. Results reveal that anxiety over abandonment predicts negative loneliness in men and women. However, avoidance of intimacy is a predictor of negative loneliness only in the case of women. In addition, only anxiety over abandonment predicts the persistence of feelings of attachment toward the ex-partner, but not avoidance of intimacy, and this pattern of results was similar in men and women. The clinical implications of these results and future lines of research are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• adjustment to divorce and separation
• anxiety over abandonment
• avoidance of intimacy
• romantic attachment

Funding

This research was funded by a research grant from the National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development of the Government of Chile (FONDECYT 1150044) to Mónica Guzmán-González.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by a research grant from the National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development of the Government of Chile (FONDECYT 1150044) to Mónica Guzmán-González.