Romantic relationships, relationship styles, coping strategies and psychological distress among Chinese and Australian Young Adults

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Leung, Cynthia, Moore, Susan, Karnilowicz, Wally ORCID: 0000-0002-9611-0217 and Lung, Ching-Leung (2011) Romantic relationships, relationship styles, coping strategies and psychological distress among Chinese and Australian Young Adults. Social Development, 20 (4). pp. 783-804. ISSN 0961-205X (print) 1467-9507 (online)

Abstract

This study examined the association between relationship styles, coping strategies, and psychological distress among 144 Anglo-Australian and 250 Hong Kong Chinese undergraduate students. The results indicated that relationship styles (secure, clingy, and fickle) influenced psychological distress through their association with coping strategies (avoidance and self-punishment). Society of residence was a moderating factor for the association between clingy relationship style and psychological distress. Females also reported higher levels of psychological distress than males. Among participants who had experienced a romantic relationship break up, participants endorsing clingy relationship style and those whose partners initiated the break up expressed more hurt in comparison, whereas those who endorsed avoidance strategy reported less hurt. The results of the present study also suggested that psychosocial variables (relationship styles, coping strategies) were generally more important than demographic factors (e.g., age) in predicting mental health outcomes. However, relationship styles and coping strategies may operate differently under different contexts.

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Additional Information

article first published online 12 July 2011

Item type Article
URI https://vuir.vu.edu.au/id/eprint/6842
DOI 10.1111/j.1467-9507.2011.00616.x
Official URL http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-...
Subjects Historical > FOR Classification > 1701 Psychology
Historical > Faculty/School/Research Centre/Department > School of Social Sciences and Psychology
Historical > SEO Classification > 970117 Expanding Knowledge in Psychology and Cognitive Sciences
Keywords ResPubID23919, coping strategies, romantic relationship styles, psychological distress
Citations in Scopus 6 - View on Scopus
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