Romantic Attachment and Adjustment to Divorce

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 revealthat 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.