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

ABSTRACTThis 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.