Relationships among cognitive emotion regulation, attachment styles, relational factors, and breakup distress in undergraduate students with breakup experiences
Abstract:
This research study aimed to examine how breakup distress was associated and could be predicted by cognitive emotion regulation, attachment styles, and relational factors. An inferential research design was used. Participants were 211 undergraduate students with breakup experiences of at least 3 months, recruited by a snowball sampling. Participants responded to demographic sheet as well as the measures of breakup distress, attachment styles, and cognitive emotion regulation. Data obtained were analyzed using Pearsons product moment correlation and multiple regression analysis with the enter method. Overall, findings support the hypotheses. Significant positive associations were found between breakup distress and the use of unhelpful cognitive emotion regulation (r = .41, p < .01) as well as anxious attachment styles, including the need for approval (r = .25, p < .01) and preoccupation with relationship (r = .39, p < .01). In contrast, the breakup distress was negative associated with the existence of a new partner (r = -.16, p < .05). All together, cognitive emotion regulation, attachment styles, and relational factors significantly predicted and accounted for 26 percent of the variance in breakup distress (p < .001). However, when examined together, only unhelpful cognitive emotion regulation (β = .28, p < .001), preoccupation with relationship (β = .35, p < .001), and the existence of a new partner (β = -.18, p < .01) could predict breakup distress significantly. These findings clarify and provide guidelines for therapeutic prevention and intervention for breakup distress in undergraduate students.