Romantic relationships are important for social development and can impact an individual’s functioning both positively and negatively, especially when the relationship breaks up. Emotional and cognitive coping strategies including emotion approach coping, avoidance, and rumination and variable response to expressive writing intervention were examined in relation to post-dissolution distress. Undergraduate participants randomized into two groups completed measures of cognitive and emotional coping variables and global distress, with the experimental group completing a three-session expressive writing protocol. Writing samples were rated for processing mode, or the degree of vague general statements. Avoidance and rumination demonstrated significant cross-sectional associations with Time 1 distress controlling for demographics and characteristics of the former relationship. Gender moderated the relationship between rumination and distress. Using a matched sub-sample, the groups did not differ on emotional coping variables or distress. Results demonstrate the importance of examining emotional coping strategies in conjunction with relationship dissolution.

The current study aims to analyze the nature and duration of the intimate relationship breakup experience for young adult males and females as a function of socially encouraged gender behavior and Facebook use. Seventy male and seventy female (ages 18-25) participants who have endured an intimate relationship breakup within the past year will complete three pencil and paper survey measures in a classroom setting. Participants will be asked a series of questions about their resulting emotionality and Facebook use post-breakup. The researcher anticipates a series of t-tests will reveal that in accordance with socially encouraged gender behaviors, females will report a longer duration of the breakup process, overall higher levels of emotionality, and more time spent monitoring the activity of an ex-partner on Facebook. Male participants will report higher levels of anger as a result of a breakup, and while both males and females will report Facebook interference in the coping process, females will report significantly higher levels of Facebook interference than male participants. The increased understanding of social media use and gender stereotypes in regards to an intimate relationship breakup suggest that both hold significant power in society, and may particularly encourage gender differences in dealing with such a breakup. Furthermore, the two may function in sync to dictate the breakup experience differently for males and females.

The breakup of a non-marital romantic relationship is a common experience, yet we know little about the factors associated with coping and recovery. Even less is known about the social context in which these breakups occur, such as how the ongoing relationship between two people (who were formerly in a relationship) impacts emotional adjustment. Relationship breakups are not always a definitive event, but rather a process that unfolds over time. By studying these associations, as well as the influence of other supportive people in shaping recovery, research can move beyond individual variables to cast a truly social or interpersonal light on this topic. With this broad goal in mind, my dissertation addresses four specific aims that are designed to: (1) Understand how specific forms of ex-partner contact are associated with variability in emotional adjustment following a romantic breakup; (2) Examine the moderators and mediators of these associations; (3) explore the associations between the social support efforts of close friends/family and participants' emotional adjustment with a specific focus on evaluating the correlates of target participants' received support with respect to informants' reports of support provided; and (4) explore the implications of having a friend/family member report on participants' responses to the separation in altering a target participant's self-report of adjustment over time. One-hundred forty-five (n = 25 men) participants provided reports of contact with ex-partners and emotional adjustment over a 5-week period, half of whom were randomly assigned to participate in the study with an informant. Out of 73 participants in this condition, 48 informants agreed to participate on behalf of their target participant also reporting the participant's ex-partner contact behaviors and emotional adjustment. For men and/or those with high attachment anxiety and avoidance, ex-partner contact is not associated with poorer emotional adjustment. Support also was found for two mechanisms, longing and rumination, which explain the association of ex-partner contact and emotional adjustment, as well as for attachment anxiety as a moderator of part of the indirect effect. No support was found for invisible support analyses or for cognitive reappraisal as a potential mechanism that explains the effects of invisible support, and the lack of findings is addressed. Finally, findings suggest that inclusion of informants may impact the validity of target participants' responses, insomuch as participants may alter their behaviors and/or the extent to which they are truthful about their behaviors due to knowing an informant was reporting on their behaviors.

Digital natives, who are born and raised with digital technologies, have a deep affinity with social media. Social media has a great influence over an individual's daily life, even on his/her intimate and romantic relationship. As a breakup of romantic relationships can commonly happen to digital natives, and as it is likely to cause distress and psychological symptoms afterwards, this study attempted to find out the impact of breakups on social media use among digital natives. The quantitate survey was conducted with 175 valid participants between the ages of 18-30. These participants were those who currently live in the United States, who use social media at least once a month, who experienced a romantic breakup in the last six months. The results show that negative self-esteem plays a key role between breakup-associated factors and a strong attachment to social media use in their daily lives. Negative self-esteem mediates social media use with a breakup initiation status or depression prompted by breakup. Negative self-esteem also arises when a person's perceived responsibility towards the breakup or the cause of the breakup is high when they are rejected by their partner.

The termination of a romantic relationship, be it by breakup or divorce, is a fairly ubiquitous experience. Most individuals will recover from a traumatic experience of this nature; some however, experience substantial difficulties in recuperating that persist over time. For these individuals, relationship termination can invoke a variety of negative physical and psychological health outcomes. This project examines the role of social cognitive maturity, operationalized as Interpersonal Decentering, in recovery following a relational loss. Participants in this study were assigned to a pre/post control or measurement intensive (four visits) condition over the course of nine weeks. Individuals in the latter condition completed a Stream of Consciousness (SOC) task in which they discussed their breakup experience out loud for four minutes. These narratives were then transcribed and scored using the Interpersonal Decentering manual as adapted for Expressive Writing. Results indicate that – for women only – mature social cognition is inversely related to depressive mood at the initial visit. However, it is not related to initial PSTD symptomatology for men or women, nor does it predict decreases in depression and trauma symptomatology from the initial visit to the nine-week follow-up. Implications, limitations, and future directions for research of this nature are discussed.

When a romantic relationship ends in dissolution, the ex-partners may experience distress similar to post-traumatic stress or complex grief (i.e., dysphoric mood, feelings of loss, intrusive memories, negative rumination regarding the relationship, and a loss of self-esteem). Interventions designed to reduce post-breakup distress have historically attempted to foster integration of the breakup into the self-narrative through techniques such as expressive writing. Recent research indicates centrality, or heightened integration of an event or concept into an individual’s identity, predicts heightened levels of distress in the case of negative life events, including romantic relationship dissolution. Given the role romantic relationships themselves play in identity formation, exploration is warranted of the potential distress resulting from over-identification with a romantic relationship itself, or relationship centrality, after a breakup has occurred. Furthermore, if an individual has overly-integrated a relationship into their identity, the effectiveness of interventions focusing on further integration of the breakup is called into question. This study explored the centrality of participants’ previous romantic relationships, the distress resulting from the dissolution of those relationships, and the role of expressive writing as a distress reduction tool when centrality is taken into account.