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Romantic Attachment Among Young Adults: the Effects of Parental Divorce and Residential Instability

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Romantic Attachment Among Young Adults: the Effects of Parental Divorce and Residential Instability University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences Family Sciences 2012 ROMANTIC ATTACHMENT AMONG YOUNG ADULTS: THE EFFECTS OF PARENTAL DIVORCE AND RESIDENTIAL INSTABILITY Katherine N. Washington University of Kentucky, [email protected] Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Washington, Katherine N., "ROMANTIC ATTACHMENT AMONG YOUNG ADULTS: THE EFFECTS OF PARENTAL DIVORCE AND RESIDENTIAL INSTABILITY" (2012). Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences. 5. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/hes_etds/5 This Master's Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Family Sciences at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. I understand that I am solely responsible for obtaining any needed copyright permissions. I have obtained and attached hereto needed written permission statements(s) from the owner(s) of each third-party copyrighted matter to be included in my work, allowing electronic distribution (if such use is not permitted by the fair use doctrine). I hereby grant to The University of Kentucky and its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible my work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I agree that the document mentioned above may be made available immediately for worldwide access unless a preapproved embargo applies. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of my work. I understand that I am free to register the copyright to my work. REVIEW, APPROVAL AND ACCEPTANCE The document mentioned above has been reviewed and accepted by the student’s advisor, on behalf of the advisory committee, and by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), on behalf of the program; we verify that this is the final, approved version of the student’s dissertation including all changes required by the advisory committee. The undersigned agree to abide by the statements above. Katherine N. Washington, Student Dr. Jason Hans, Major Professor Dr. Jason Hans, Director of Graduate Studies ROMANTIC ATTACHMENT AMONG YOUNG ADULTS: THE EFFECTS OF PARENTAL DIVORCE AND RESIDENTIAL INSTABILITY THESIS A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in the College of Family Sciences at the University of Kentucky By Katherine N. Washington Lexington, Kentucky Director: Jason Hans, Professor of Family Science Lexington, Kentucky 2012 Copyright © Katherine Noelle Washington 2012 ABSTRACT OF THESIS ROMANTIC ATTACHMENT AMONG YOUNG ADULTS: THE EFFECTS OF PARENTAL DIVORCE AND RESIDENTIAL INSTABILITY Using an attachment theory perspective, variation in adult romantic attachment style outcomes were examined according to childhood experiences of parental divorce and residential instability. The sample was comprised of 172 individuals in the young adulthood developmental stage that were recruited using snowball sampling via online social networking. Participants completed an online survey containing the 36-item Experiences in Close Relationships scale and 28 author-developed items. The majority of the sample reported stable and predictable living arrangements as children. Those whose parents had divorced reported higher levels of parental conflict during their childhood than those whose parents had never divorced or separated. There was no statistical difference on adult romantic attachment style score between individuals who experience parental divorce or separation and those who did not. Parental conflict and stability of residence patterns did not have a statistically significant impact on attachment avoidance or anxiety. For participants whose parents had divorced or separated, conflict, residential stability, and time with nonresidential parent statistically improved the predictive ability of attachment anxiety. Specifically, time with nonresidential parent moderated adult romantic attachment anxiety. KEYWORDS: Adult romantic attachment, Attachment, Childhood experiences, Childhood residence patterns, Parental divorce, Katherine N. Washington April 13, 2012 ii ROMANTIC ATTACHMENT AMONG YOUNG ADULTS: THE EFFECTS OF PARENTAL DIVORCE AND RESIDENTIAL INSTABILITY By Katherine N. Washington Jason Hans, Ph.D. Director of Thesis Jason Hans, Ph.D. Director of Graduate Studies April 13, 2012 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... vi Chapter 1: Literature Review ...............................................................................................1 Attachment Theory ..................................................................................................1 Parental Divorce ......................................................................................................2 Adult Romantic Attachment ....................................................................................6 Chapter 2: Method ...............................................................................................................8 Sampling Procedures ...............................................................................................8 Sample......................................................................................................................9 Measures ..................................................................................................................9 Outcome variables .......................................................................................9 Anxiety ...........................................................................................10 Avoidance ......................................................................................10 Predictor variables .................................................................................................10 Parental divorce or separation ....................................................................11 Parental conflict .........................................................................................11 Stability of residential pattern ....................................................................11 Mean days per week with nonresidential parents ......................................11 Moderating variables .............................................................................................11 Procedures ..............................................................................................................12 Chapter 3: Results ..............................................................................................................13 Descriptive statistics ..............................................................................................13 Multivariate analysis of variance ...........................................................................13 Hierarchical multiple regression ............................................................................14 Chapter 4: Discussion ........................................................................................................18 Parental separation or divorce and adult romantic attachment ..............................18 Stability ..................................................................................................................19 Time spent with nonresidential parent ...................................................................19 Parental conflict .....................................................................................................20 Contextual factors ..................................................................................................20 Limitations .............................................................................................................20 iv Implications............................................................................................................22 Conclusion .............................................................................................................22 Appendix A ........................................................................................................................24 Appendix B ........................................................................................................................25 References ..........................................................................................................................36 Vita .....................................................................................................................................41 v LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1, Demographic characteristics of participants .....................................................16 Table 3.2, Hierarchical multiple regression analysis summary for stability and conflict predictive anxiety and avoidance when controlling for gender ........................17 Table 3.3, Hierarchical multiple regression analysis summary for stability, conflict and time with nonresidential parent predicting anxiety and avoidance when controlling for genera and age at parental separation .......................................17
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