Growing in times of grief: attachment modulates bereaved adults' posttraumatic growth after losing a family member to cancer.
This study explored whether attachment moderated the relationship between grief and posttraumatic growth. A total of 240 Chinese adults who have lost a family member to cancer reported on their grief (Prolonged Grief Questionnaire-13; PG-13), posttraumatic growth (Posttraumatic Growth Inventory; PTGI) and attachment (Experiences in Close Relationships; ECR). The results suggested that bereaved individuals who scored high on attachment anxiety showed a substantial and positive relationship between grief and posttraumatic growth, while their less anxiously attached counterparts showed no such association. Attachment avoidance was not significantly related to the association between grief and posttraumatic growth. Findings indicated that individuals high in attachment anxiety have the potential to benefit and gain from the process of adapting to the loss. The implications of the results for relevant research and grief counseling were discussed.
Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, PR China.
Wei
W
Xu
Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, PR China.
Zhongfang
Z
Fu
Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, PR China.
Li
L
He
Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg, Switzerland.
Dominik
D
Schoebi
Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, PR China; Capital Medical University, Beijing, PR China. Electronic address: wjphh@bnu.edu.cn.
Jianping
J
Wang
D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D001601:Bereavement; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006117:Grief; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D009769:Object Attachment; D010555:Personality Inventory; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
Attachment anxiety; Attachment avoidance; Grief; Moderating effect; Posttraumatic growth