Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-02T21:41:23.407Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Benefit Finding and Psychological Adjustment Following a Non-Marital Relationship Breakup

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 May 2014

Christina Samios*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Bond University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Donna F. Henson
Affiliation:
School of Communication, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Bond University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Hannah J. Simpson
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Bond University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
*
ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE: Dr Christina Samios, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Bond University, Robina QLD 4229, Australia. Email: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

Many people experience a non-marital relationship breakup, which can lead to poor adjustment outcomes; however, relative to divorce, non-marital breakups have received less research attention, particularly on factors that may predict positive adjustment outcomes. We examined the adaptive role of finding benefits in a non-marital breakup in 140 participants who completed measures of benefit finding, the impact of the event, and adjustment. Regression analyses found that benefit finding related to positive adjustment outcomes and that the benefit finding-depression relationship was moderated by the impact of the event. This study provides empirical support for benefit finding in a non-marital relationship breakup.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Australian Academic Press Pty Ltd 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aiken, L.S., & West, S.G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing.Google Scholar
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2007). Lifetime marriage and divorce trends. Canberra, Australia: Author.Google Scholar
Bevvino, D., L., & Sharkin, B.S. (2003). Divorce adjustment as a function of finding meaning and gender differences. Journal of Divorce and Remarriage, 39, 8197. doi:10.1300/JO87v39n03_04Google Scholar
Bradburn, N.M. (1969). The structure of psychological wellbeing. Oxford, England: Aldine.Google Scholar
Carson, C.I., & Cupach, W.R. (2000). Fueling the flames of the green-eyed monster: The role of ruminative thought and reaction to romantic jealousy. Western Journal of Communication, 64, 308329. doi:10.1080/10570310009374678Google Scholar
Chung, M.C., Farmer, S., Grant, K., Newton, R., Payne, S., Perry, M., . . . Stone, N. (2002). Self-esteem, personality and posttraumatic stress symptoms following the dissolution of a dating relationship. Stress and Health, 18, 8390. doi:10.1002/smi.929Google Scholar
Davis, C.G., Nolen-Hoeksema, S., & Larson, J. (1998). Making sense of loss and benefiting from the experience: Two construals of meaning. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 561574. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.75.2.561Google Scholar
Diener, E., Emmons, R.A., Larsen, R.J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The Satisfaction with Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 7175. doi:10.1207/s15327752jpa4901_13Google Scholar
Field, T., Diego, M., Pelaez, M., Deeds, O., & Delgado, J. (2009). Breakup distress in university students. Adolescence, 44, 705727. doi:10.4236/psych.2010.13023Google Scholar
Fine, M.A., & Harvey, J.H. (Eds.). (2006). Handbook of divorce and relationship dissolution. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Folkman, S. (2011). Stress, health, and coping: Synthesis, commentary, and future directions. In Folkman, S. (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of stress, health, and coping (pp. 453462). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Folkman, S., & Moskowitz, J.T. (2000). Positive affect and the other side of coping. American Psychologist, 55, 647654. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.55.6.647Google Scholar
Fredrickson, B.L. (2004). The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences, 359, 13671377. doi:10.1098/rstb.2004.1512CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Helgeson, V.S., Reynolds, K.A., & Tomich, P.L. (2006). A meta-analytic review of benefit finding and growth. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 74, 797816. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.74.5.797Google Scholar
Horowitz, M., Wilner, N., & Alvarez, W. (1979). Impact of Events Scale: A measure of subjective stress. Psychosomatic Medicine, 41, 209218.Google Scholar
Janoff-Bulman, R., & Yopyk, D.J. (2004). Random outcomes and valued commitments: Existential dilemmas and the paradox of meaning. In Greenberg, J., Koole, S.L. & Pyszczynski, T. (Eds.), Handbook of experimental existential psychology (pp. 122138). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Kenny, D.A., Kashy, D.A., & Cook, W.L. (2006). Dyadic data analysis. New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Knox, D., Zusman, M.E., Kaluzny, M., & Cooper, C. (2000). College student recovery from a broken heart. College Student Journal, 34, 322324.Google Scholar
Lechner, S.C., Carver, C.S., Antoni, M.H., Weaver, K.E., & Phillips, K.M. (2006). Curvilinear associations between benefit finding and psychosocial adjustment to breast cancer. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 74, 828840. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.74.5.828Google Scholar
Lewandowski, G.W. Jr. (2009). Promoting positive emotions following relationship dissolution through writing. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 4, 2131. doi:10.1080/17439760802068480Google Scholar
Linley, P.A., Joseph, S., Harrington, S., & Wood, A.M. (2006). Positive psychology: Past, present, and (possible) future. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 1, 316. doi:10.1080/17439760500372786Google Scholar
Lovibond, S.H., & Lovibond, P.F. (1995). Manual for the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale. Sydney, Australia: The Psychology Foundation of Australia.Google Scholar
McMillen, J.C., & Fisher, R.H. (1998). The Perceived Benefit Scales: Measuring perceived positive life changes after negative events. Social Work Research, 22, 173187. doi:10.1093/swr/22.3.173Google Scholar
Monroe, S.M., Rohde, P., Seeley, J.R., & Lewinsohn, P.M. (1999). Life events and depression in adolescence: Relationship loss as a prospective risk factor for first onset of major depressive disorder. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 108, 606–514.Google Scholar
Nunnally, J. (1978). Psychometric theory. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Park, C.L. (2010). Making sense of the meaning literature: An integrative review of meaning making and its effects on adjustment to stressful life events. Psychological Bulletin, 136, 257301. doi:10.1037/A0018301Google Scholar
Park, C.L. (2011). Meaning, coping, and health and well-being. In Folkman, S. (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of stress, health, and coping (pp. 227241). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Park, C. L., Chmielewski, J., & Blank, T. O. (2010). Post-traumatic growth: Finding positive meaning in cancer survivorship moderates the impact of intrusive thoughts on adjustment in younger adults. Psycho-oncology, 19, 11391147. doi:10.1002/pon.1680Google Scholar
Perilloux, C., & Buss, D.M. (2008). Breaking up romantic relationships: Costs experienced and coping strategies deployed. Evolutionary Psychology, 6, 164181.Google Scholar
Popenoe, D., & Whitehead, B.D. (2004). The state of our unions, 2004. Piscataway, NJ: The National Marriage Project.Google Scholar
Samios, C., Rodzik, A.K., & Abel, L.M. (2012). Secondary traumatic stress and adjustment in therapists who work with sexual violence survivors: The moderating role of posttraumatic growth. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 40, 341356. doi:10.1080/03069885.2012.691463Google Scholar
Sbarra, D.A., & Emery, R.E. (2005). The emotional sequelae of nonmarital relationship dissolution: Analysis of change and intraindividual variability over time. Personal Relationships, 12, 213232. doi:10.111/j.1350-4126.2005.00112.xGoogle Scholar
Silva, S.M., Moreira, H.C., & Canavarro, M.C. (2012). Examining the links between perceived impact of breast cancer and psychosocial adjustment: The buffering role of posttraumatic growth. Psycho-Oncology, 21, 409418. doi:10.1002/pon.1913Google Scholar
Tashiro, T., & Frazier, P. (2003). ‘I’ll never be in a relationship like that again’: Personal growth following romantic relationship breakups. Personal Relationships, 10, 113128. doi:10.1111/1475-6811.00039Google Scholar
Weber, A.L. (1998). Losing, leaving, and letting go: Coping with nonmarital breakups. In Cupach, W.R. (Ed.), The dark side of close relationships (pp. 267306). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Weiss, D.S., & Marmar, C.R. (1997). The Impact of Event Scale — Revised. In Wilson, J.P. & Keane, T.M. (Eds.), Assessing psychological trauma and PTSD (pp. 399411). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Wong, P.T.P. (1998). Meaning-centred counseling. In Wong, P.T.P. & Fry, P.S. (Eds.), The human quest for meaning: A handbook of psychological research and clinical applications (pp. 395435). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar