Patterns of Attachment and Parents' Adjustment to the Death of Their Child

The impact of adult attachment on psychological adjustment among bereaved parents and the mediating effect of relationship satisfaction were examined among a sample of 219 couples of parents. Data collection took place 6, 13, and 20 months after loss. Use of the actor partner interdependence model i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Personality & social psychology bulletin 2007-04, Vol.33 (4), p.537-548
Main Authors: Wijngaards-de Meij, Leoniek, Stroebe, Margaret, Schut, Henk, Stroebe, Wolfgang, van den Bout, Jan, van der Heijden, Peter G. M., Dijkstra, Iris
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Psychological
Adjustment
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Anxiety
Attachment
Attitude to Death
Avoidance
Avoidance behavior
Bereavement
Child
Child mortality
Child, Preschool
Children
Data collection
Death
Death & dying
Female
Grief
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Interdependence
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Marital satisfaction
Mental depression
Middle Aged
Models, Psychological
Multivariate Analysis
Netherlands
Object Attachment
Parental attachment
Parents & parenting
Parents - psychology
Relationship satisfaction
Sex Factors
Spouses - psychology
Time Factors
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Summary:The impact of adult attachment on psychological adjustment among bereaved parents and the mediating effect of relationship satisfaction were examined among a sample of 219 couples of parents. Data collection took place 6, 13, and 20 months after loss. Use of the actor partner interdependence model in multilevel regression analysis enabled exploration of both individual as well as partner attachment as predictors of grief and depression. Results indicated that the more insecurely attached parents were (on both avoidance and anxiety attachment), the higher the symptoms of grief and depression. Neither the attachment pattern of the partner nor similarity of attachment within the couple had any influence on psychological adjustment of the parent. Marital satisfaction partially mediated the association of anxious attachment with symptomatology. Contrary to previous research findings, avoidant attachment was associated with high grief intensity. These findings challenge the notion that the avoidantly attached are resilient.
ISSN:0146-1672
1552-7433
DOI:10.1177/0146167206297400