This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Fraley, R. C. Articles by Bonanno, G. A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Fraley, R. C. Articles by Bonanno, G. A. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Attachment and Loss: A Test of Three Competing Models on the Association between Attachment-Related Avoidance and Adaptation to Bereavement

University of Illinois at Chicago

George A. Bonanno

Teachers College, Columbia University

It is widely assumed that emotionally avoidant or defensive individuals will have a difficult time adjusting to the loss of a loved one. However, recent research suggests that defensive individuals tend to adapt quite well to loss. Such findings pose a number of challenges to attachment theory—a theory that has traditionally held that emotional avoidance is indicative of poor psychological adjustment. In this article, the authors argue that contemporary models of individual differences in adult attachment allow the derivation of at least three competing hypotheses regarding the relationship between avoidant attachment and adaptation to loss. These hypotheses are tested using two-wave data on 59 bereaved adults. Results indicate that whereas some avoidant individuals (i.e., those who are fearfully avoidant) have a difficult time adapting to the loss of a loved one, other avoidant adults (i.e., those who are dismissingly avoidant) show a pattern of resilience to loss.

Key Words: attachment styles • psychological defense • bereavement • emotion regulation

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 30, No. 7, 878-890 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/0146167204264289


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				N. G. Chau, C. Zimmermann, C. Ma, N. Taback, and M. K. Krzyzanowska Bereavement Practices of Physicians in Oncology and Palliative Care Arch Intern Med, May 25, 2009; 169(10): 963 - 971. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. Wijngaards-de Meij, M. Stroebe, H. Schut, W. Stroebe, J. van den Bout, P. G. M. van der Heijden, and I. Dijkstra Patterns of Attachment and Parents' Adjustment to the Death of Their Child Pers Soc Psychol Bull, April 1, 2007; 33(4): 537 - 548. [Abstract] [PDF]

				K. M. Shear, C. T. Jackson, S. M. Essock, S. A. Donahue, and C. J. Felton Screening for Complicated Grief Among Project Liberty Service Recipients 18 Months After September 11, 2001 Psychiatr Serv, September 1, 2006; 57(9): 1291 - 1297. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. C. Fraley, D. A. Fazzari, G. A. Bonanno, and S. Dekel Attachment and Psychological Adaptation in High Exposure Survivors of the September 11th Attack on the World Trade Center Pers Soc Psychol Bull, April 1, 2006; 32(4): 538 - 551. [Abstract] [PDF]