The Role of Attachment Style in Coping with Job Loss and the Empty Nest in Adulthood

Abstract

The current study employed a life events perspective to examine the relationship between attachment style and both adjustment and coping processes in adults during two specific life events involving both the loss of and a renegotiation of an attachment relationship: the launching of children from the family of origin and job loss, which represent both normative and nonnormative transitions, respectively. Using median splits for each attachment dimension (closeness, dependency, and anxiety) to define secure, anxious, and avoidant styles, based on the work of Collins and Read, analyses failed to yield a significant multivariate life event by style interaction. However, a statistically significant multivariate main effect for life event and for attachment style was obtained. Additionally, findings suggested that to a certain extent, the impact of attachment style and life events is moderated by gender, wherein a supplemental analysis yielded a significant life event by gender by level of closeness interaction. The data support the notion that securely attached individuals may be more equipped to meet developmental life challenges in adulthood, and extend previous work that is limited to women and to the empty nest.

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