Meaning-making in the context of divorce: Links with emotion regulation

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed research application aims to examine the processes through which individuals adjust to a major relational transition in life, divorce, over the course of nine months. Both psychological and physiological change processes will be examined in relation to the degree to which the individual is able to fit the relational loss into his understanding of his life history in a coherent manner. The concept of narrative coherence, or the degree to which an individual demonstrates a balanced, open, and believable understanding of the ways in which life events affect him/her, originally developed in the adult attachment literature, will be applied to the study of divorce and evaluated as a predictor of increased physiological functioning during a divorce-related mood induction task. In addition, given the known links between early traumatic and loss experiences and adjustment to later loss experiences, this study will evaluate associations between early loss/trauma and psychological and physiological adjustment to marital dissolution. In a sample of 90 (N=90) measured at three separate occasions across 9-months, the specific aims of this project are to (1) develop an implement a coding system to evaluate narrative coherence with respect to divorce as evident during a four minute stream-of-consciousness speech sample; (b) evaluate whether changes in narrative coherence are related to changes in physiological response patterns over time when individuals think about their separation experience in the laboratory; and, (c) examine the association between early loss/trauma experiences and psychological and physiological adjustment to divorce. Latent growth curve modeling will be used to examine how changes in narrative coherence occur in tandem with changes in physiology, and how early histories of loss/trauma are related to adjustment to divorce over time. The overarching goal of this investigation is to better understand how cognitive organization related to marital dissolution is related to physiological emotion regulation. Understanding mechanisms of change in recovery from divorce has the potential to inform intervention efforts. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Divorce is among the most stressful life events a person can experience, and a significant proportion of adults develop diagnosable Major Depression following marital dissolution. This research examines the predictors of post-divorce adjustment and the factors that are associated with how these mood disturbances negatively impact physical health outcomes. A better understanding of these topics is critical for elucidating resiliency process and for developing effective treatment and prevention programs.