Date of Award

8-1-2014

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Organizational Unit

Morgridge College of Education

First Advisor

Maria Riva, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Cynthia McCrae

Third Advisor

Ruth Chao

Keywords

Young adult relationships, Post-relationship grief, Break-ups, Relationship dissolution

Abstract

This study explored how young adult initiators of romantic relationship dissolution experience grief and support through the breakup process. Participants were six female and three male undergraduate students at The University of Idaho, all of whom had initiated a breakup within the past six months. Initiators responded to a variety of questions about their experiences in a semi-structured interview. Based on a qualitative analysis of these interviews, a variety of themes emerged highlighting the often minimized experience of initiating a romantic relationship breakup in early adulthood. Additional analysis compared themes based on participant gender and age. Results suggest that initiators can and do experience grief after their breakups, that their grief is often disenfranchised, and that they value support from family and friends.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Laura P. Finkelstein

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Format

application/pdf

Language

en

File Size

144 p.

Discipline

Counseling psychology

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