“It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to”: Coping with Breakup Distress
Academic Level at Time of Presentation
Senior
Major
Psychology
List all Project Mentors & Advisor(s)
Dr. Jana Hackathorn
Presentation Format
Event
Abstract/Description
Problem/past research: Past research (Moritz et.al., 2016; 2018) emphasizes the relationship between subjective well-being and coping strategies. That is, adaptive coping styles positively correlate whereas maladaptive coping styles negatively correlate with subjective well-being (Fischer et. al., 2021). Breakup distress is similar to complicated grief as the individuals who experience it tend to exhibit signs of depression, anxiety, intrusive thoughts, sleep disturbances, and more (Field & Colleagues, 2011). How individuals cope with breakup distress can be influenced by individual differences, namely attachment style and gender. For example, secure individuals tend to face relationship breakups with greater resilience than do insecure individuals who tend to respond to breakups with hyperactivated emotional and physiological distress. In fact, individuals who have more attachment anxiety will have a better opportunity to turn a breakup into fuel for personal growth, compared to those that exhibit attachment avoidance (Marshall et al., 2013). Additionally, as men and women have different resulting costs from a breakup they often utilize different coping strategies as well (Perilloux & Buss, 2008).
Purpose: The current study examined how people cope with breakup distress, and how those coping strategies might relate to attachment styles (i.e., secure, anxious, and avoidant), as well as gender. This study aims to identify the role that gender and attachment style relate to coping styles following a breakup.
Procedure: Undergraduate participants, who had been through a breakup in the past year, were recruited to complete an online survey. In addition to demographics, participants completed the following measures: State Self Esteem Scale (Heatherton, 1991), the Shaver-Hazan attachment style prototypes (Hazan &Shaver, 1987), the Breakup Distress Scale (Field et al., 2011), the Changes to Self-Scale (created for the purposes of this study), and the MAX Scale (Fischer et al., 2021).
Hypotheses: Results of a series of Pearson’s r analyses indicated that maladaptive coping styles was correlated with insecure attachment (r(162) = .19, p = .015), breakup distress was correlated with adaptive (r(162) = -.16, p = .037) as well as maladaptive (r(162) = .37, p < .001). Gender was only correlated with maladaptive coping styles (r(160) = .19, p = .017).
Implications: This study indicates that there are various factors that relate to how someone might cope following a breakup. Future research should examine specific coping behaviors (e.g., “the haircut”) that are stereotypically related to breakups and whether those behaviors are adaptive or maladaptive.
Fall Scholars Week 2022 Event
Psychology: Completed Projects
“It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to”: Coping with Breakup Distress
Problem/past research: Past research (Moritz et.al., 2016; 2018) emphasizes the relationship between subjective well-being and coping strategies. That is, adaptive coping styles positively correlate whereas maladaptive coping styles negatively correlate with subjective well-being (Fischer et. al., 2021). Breakup distress is similar to complicated grief as the individuals who experience it tend to exhibit signs of depression, anxiety, intrusive thoughts, sleep disturbances, and more (Field & Colleagues, 2011). How individuals cope with breakup distress can be influenced by individual differences, namely attachment style and gender. For example, secure individuals tend to face relationship breakups with greater resilience than do insecure individuals who tend to respond to breakups with hyperactivated emotional and physiological distress. In fact, individuals who have more attachment anxiety will have a better opportunity to turn a breakup into fuel for personal growth, compared to those that exhibit attachment avoidance (Marshall et al., 2013). Additionally, as men and women have different resulting costs from a breakup they often utilize different coping strategies as well (Perilloux & Buss, 2008).
Purpose: The current study examined how people cope with breakup distress, and how those coping strategies might relate to attachment styles (i.e., secure, anxious, and avoidant), as well as gender. This study aims to identify the role that gender and attachment style relate to coping styles following a breakup.
Procedure: Undergraduate participants, who had been through a breakup in the past year, were recruited to complete an online survey. In addition to demographics, participants completed the following measures: State Self Esteem Scale (Heatherton, 1991), the Shaver-Hazan attachment style prototypes (Hazan &Shaver, 1987), the Breakup Distress Scale (Field et al., 2011), the Changes to Self-Scale (created for the purposes of this study), and the MAX Scale (Fischer et al., 2021).
Hypotheses: Results of a series of Pearson’s r analyses indicated that maladaptive coping styles was correlated with insecure attachment (r(162) = .19, p = .015), breakup distress was correlated with adaptive (r(162) = -.16, p = .037) as well as maladaptive (r(162) = .37, p < .001). Gender was only correlated with maladaptive coping styles (r(160) = .19, p = .017).
Implications: This study indicates that there are various factors that relate to how someone might cope following a breakup. Future research should examine specific coping behaviors (e.g., “the haircut”) that are stereotypically related to breakups and whether those behaviors are adaptive or maladaptive.