Grief due to divorce: relationship with attachment style and effects on subjective well-being and co-parenting / El duelo ante el divorcio: relación con el estilo de apego y efectos en el bienestar subjetivo y el ejercicio de la co-parentalidad

Abstract

Abstract Divorce, like other life transitions, results in a grieving process. This paper analyses the grieving process experienced with divorce in a sample of 185 Spanish divorced parents as well as the antecedents and consequences of this situation. No differences were found by gender or custody status. Grief due to divorce is affected by the divorcee’s sociocultural context, duration of the marriage, time elapsed since the divorce and attachment style. Grief due to divorce predicts the person’s adaptation to the divorce, reaction to conflict, forgiveness and subjective well-being (life satisfaction, positive and negative affect), but it does not predict co-parenting or perception of support received from the former spouse. The implication of these results for intervention and working with divorced parents is discussed.