<p>  </p> <p>Romantic breakups are a relatively common life event for college students, with as many as 98% of young adults reporting having experienced a breakup at any point in their past (Mirsu-Paun & Oliver, 2017). Although the events are common, breakups have been associated with several adverse outcomes, including loneliness and social isolation (Field et al., 2009; Larson & Sbarra, 2015), onset of major depressive disorder (Monroe et al., 1999), increased anxious and depressive symptoms (Samios et al., 2014), and suicidal ideation (Mirsu-Paun & Oliver, 2017). A common source of support for students experiencing adverse outcomes from a breakup has historically been university counseling centers, which have reported continued increases in the demand for counseling services (Xiao et al., 2017). Indeed, a clear need exists for interventions to support students experiencing a breakup, especially interventions that are low-resource and easy to implement in a variety of ways.</p> <p>One such low-resource intervention is the use of expressive writing interventions, such as the kind frequently used by Pennebaker (2017). An extensive body of literature exists supporting the use of expressive writing interventions as an effective means to reduce an array of possible adverse outcomes, including physical health problems and anxious and depressive symptoms (see Collison, 2016; or Reinhold et al., 2018 for a review). However, researchers have also found inconsistent support for the use of expressive writing interventions, including meta-analytic findings showing no long-term benefits from engaging in expressive writing (Collison, 2016; Reinhold et al., 2018).</p> <p>One area of the expressive writing literature that may explain the inconsistent findings is the use of targeted writing prompts, or writing instructions that target specific components of an individual’s experience, or encourage them to interpret a stressful event in a new way (Lichtenthal & Cruess, 2010; Ullrich & Lutgendorf, 2003). An example of this is Facchin et al. (2014), who found a benefit finding writing prompt led to a greater decrease in distress than a more “standard” expressive writing prompt in a study of adolescents’ adjustment to a new school.</p> <p>In the present study, I examined the extent to which expressive writing conditions impacted college students’ reports of breakup distress, suicidal ideation, intrusive thoughts, and perceived gains compared to a control writing condition. Additionally, I examined the extent to which targeted expressive writing conditions reduced breakup distress differentially compared to a standard emotional expression writing condition.</p> <p>Using an experimental design, I randomly assigned 73 college students to one of 4 expressive writing conditions. Participants in each condition completed pretest measures and completed 15-minute expressive writing tasks on 3 consecutive days, followed by completing posttest measures. I analyzed the data using a series of ANCOVAs, and I conducted four paired-samples t-tests to assess any differences that existed regardless of expressive writing condition.</p> <p>No significant differences emerged among the four expressive writing conditions, and the two targeted expressive writing conditions were not statistically different from the standard expressive writing condition. Paired-samples t-tests revealed significant decreases in breakup distress and intrusive thoughts, as well as a significant increase in perceived gains. The results may support the use of expressive writing interventions in attempting to reduce breakup distress in college students experiencing romantic breakups. The results did not support the differential impact of writing condition, suggesting that the act of writing itself may be more important than the specific writing prompt individuals respond to. The findings could possibly aid clinicians in college counseling centers in treating individuals presenting for services following a breakup, as well as providing outreach programs to students, or providing expressive writing activities as self-guided, self-help resources. </p>

Many people experience a romantic breakup at some point in their lives, but people's reactions can vary considerably. A common way of coping with the dissolution of a romantic relationship is to seek support and opportunities to talk with close others. Although talking with social network members may prove helpful for some, the Social-Cognitive Processing (SCP) model posits that interpersonal interactions can hinder emotional recovery and adjustment if the disclosers feel the social network members are responding in a socially constraining way. As a result of perceiving social constraints, individuals may try to avoid thinking and talking about the breakup altogether, which, in turn, may interfere with the cognitive processing necessary to move forward from the breakup. The current research marked the first time the SCP model was explored with regards to the dissolution of romantic relationships, and it evaluated the utility of the SCP model in potentially explaining the variable nature of adjustment to a romantic breakup. One hundred and seventy-four eligible participants completed this online study. Participants completed various questionnaires pertaining to their previous relationship and subsequent breakup, their feelings and experiences following the romantic dissolution, their tendencies to think about the breakup, and the degree to which they discussed the relationship dissolution with others and the reactions they received during these conversations. In support of the SCP model, the results indicated that social constraints were associated with greater psychological distress. Furthermore, avoidance partially mediated the relation between social constraints and psychological distress as levels of social support decreased. This suggests that higher levels of social support might help buffer against engaging in avoidance in response to social constraints. In an initial attempt to examine whether the extent of avoidance displayed varied as a function of a dispositional variable (i.e., self-monitoring), no support was found. Future research should continue to investigate additional factors that may moderate the relation between social constraints and psychological distress through avoidance. / Psychology

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Objectif : Cette étude vise à déterminer si : les traumatismes en enfance sont liés à l’attachement (anxiété d’abandon, évitement de l’intimité) et à la régulation émotionnelle et si ces variables sont liées à des difficultés d’adaptation (détresse, résilience, symptômes psychologiques) à une rupture amoureuse non-désirée chez des jeunes adultes ; et si l’attachement et la régulation émotionnelle servent de médiateurs entre les traumatismes à l'enfance et l'adaptation à la rupture. Méthode : Les traumatismes, l’attachement, la régulation émotionnelle et l'adaptation à la rupture ont été évalués dans un échantillon de 303 étudiants universitaires ayant vécu une rupture récente. Des analyses acheminatoires ont été effectuées. Résultats : La détresse est associée directement à l’anxiété d’abandon (p < ,01), la dérégulation (p < ,05) et la régulation émotionnelle (p < ,01). Les symptômes psychologiques sont associés directement aux traumatismes (p < ,01), à l’anxiété d’abandon (p < ,01), à la dérégulation (p < ,01) et la régulation émotionnelle (p < ,05). La résilience est directement associée aux traumatismes, à l’évitement de l’intimité, à la régulation émotionnelle (p < ,01) ainsi qu’à la dérégulation émotionnelle (p < ,05). Les traumatismes sont indirectement associés à la détresse (p < ,01), à la résilience (p < ,01) et aux symptômes psychologiques (p < ,01) par le biais de l’anxiété d’abandon, l’évitement de l’intimité, la régulation et dérégulation émotionnelle. Conclusion : Les jeunes ayant vécu des traumatismes à l'enfance et ayant vécu une rupture pourraient bénéficier d'interventions visant à améliorer les insécurités d’attachement et les compétences de régulation émotionnelle. / Aim: This study aimed to investigate whether: 1) childhood maltreatment is associated with attachment insecurities (abandonment anxiety, avoidance of intimacy) and emotional regulation and whether these three variables are associated with romantic breakup adjustment in youth (i.e., distress, resilience, psychiatric symptoms); and 2) childhood maltreatment is associated with attachment insecurities, which would be linked to emotional regulation, ultimately explaining romantic breakup adjustment in youth. Method: We assessed history of childhood maltreatment, attachment, emotional regulation and romantic breakup adjustment in a sample of 303 university students who experienced an unwanted breakup in the last five months. Path analyses were mesured. Results: 1) Distress was directly associated with abandonment anxiety (p < ,01), dysregulation (p < ,05), and emotional regulation (p < ,01). Psychological symptoms were directly associated with childhood maltreatment (p < ,01), abandonment anxiety (p < ,01), dysregulation (p < ,01), and emotional regulation (p < ,05). Resilience was directly associated with childhood maltreatment, avoidance of intimacy, emotional regulation (p < ,01) as well as dysregulation (p < ,05). 2) Childhood maltreatment was indirectly associated with distress (p < ,01), resilience (p < ,01), and psychological symptoms (p < ,01) after breakup through attachment anxiety and avoidance, and emotional regulation and dysregulation. Conclusion: Youth with a history of childhood maltreatment who recently experienced a romantic breakup may benefit from interventions aimed at working on attachment insecurities and improving emotional regulation skills.