title: How do attachment dimensions affect bereavement adjustment? A mediation model of continuing bonds.
abstract: The current study aims to examine mechanisms underlying the impact of attachment dimensions on bereavement adjustment. Bereaved mainland Chinese participants (N=247) completed anonymous, retrospective, self-report surveys assessing attachment dimensions, continuing bonds (CB), grief symptoms and posttraumatic growth (PTG). Results demonstrated that attachment anxiety predicted grief symptoms via externalized CB and predicted PTG via internalized CB at the same time, whereas attachment avoidance positively predicted grief symptoms via externalized CB but negatively predicted PTG directly. Findings suggested that individuals with a high level of attachment anxiety could both suffer from grief and obtain posttraumatic growth after loss, but it depended on which kind of CB they used. By contrast, attachment avoidance was associated with a heightened risk of maladaptive bereavement adjustment. Future grief therapy may encourage the bereaved to establish CB with the deceased and gradually shift from externalized CB to internalized CB.
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, PR China. Electronic address: winnieyuwei@163.com.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Teachers' college of Beijing Union University, Beijing, PR China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, PR China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: 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.
authors.forename: Jianping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Center for Research on End of Life Care, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York City, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Holly G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Prigerson
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D001601:Bereavement; D002681:China; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D005260:Female; D006117:Grief; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009769:Object Attachment; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Attachment; Continuing bonds; Grief; Mediation; Posttraumatic growth