The study explores the role of working models of attachment in the process of coping with relationship stressors with a focus on long-term adaptation. In a 7-year longitudinal study of 112 participants, stress and coping were assessed during adolescence and emerging adulthood. In addition, working models of attachment were assessed by employing the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). Individuals classified as having secure working models experienced low stress in relationships with parents, peers, and romantic partners and dealt with relationship stressors more actively by using their social network during adolescence and at the age of 21 years. In contrast, individuals with preoccupied working models experienced high relationship stress, particularly in relationships with parents, and employed less adaptive coping styles over time. Regression analyses revealed that although a preoccupied working model of attachment and withdrawal coping explained variance in symptomatology, relationship stressors were more predictive of poor psychological adaptation.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The research reported here was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Grant numbers: SE 408/10-1 and SE 408/18-1). The author thanks the 112 participants for their continuous contributions to this study and gratefully acknowledges the efforts of Frank Kollmar, Annette Boeger, Marcus Roth, Judith Hanl, Sonja Fentner, Gerd Nummer, Fabienne Becker-Stoll, Elisabeth Fremmer-Bombik, and Jörg von Irmer, who assisted in data collecting and data analyses.
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Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Mainz, Germany. Received a PhD in psychology from the University of Giessen, Germany. Research interests concern relationship development in adolescence and emerging adulthood, with a focus on stress and coping. To whom correspondence should be addressed at Department of Psychology, University of Mainz, Staudinger Weg, D-50999 Mainz, Germany.
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Seiffge-Krenke, I. Coping With Relationship Stressors: The Impact of Different Working Models of Attachment and Links to Adaptation. J Youth Adolescence 35, 24–38 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-005-9015-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-005-9015-4