Creencias y significados atribuidos a la ruptura de pareja y su afrontamiento en jóvenes universitarios

Abstract

This study addresses the topic beliefs and meanings attributed to the breakup of couples and their coping in young university students. The objective of the research is to explore, analyze and understand how these beliefs and meanings are configured in the stories of the participants. To this end, six (6) young university students of the Lumen Gentium Catholic University Foundation (FUCLG), aged between 18 and 25 years, participated. This research is of qualitative modality with phenomenological design and in-depth interview. An interview guide was designed and used to explore the meanings of the breakup of couples, the beliefs about their coping and the relationship between both categories. The results indicate that the participants attribute positive and negative meanings to the rupture of the couple; some focus on the advantages and others on the disadvantages of the break; being the case that the negative meanings appear in greater measure shortly after the rupture, changing with the passage of time. On the other hand, the beliefs about coping are oriented towards a problem-centered style when the meanings of the break allow us to consider the break as an adversity that the person can overcome; The beliefs about coping are oriented towards a style centered on emotions when the meanings about the break make it difficult to accept it. In any case, family support was a central coping strategy in the discourse of the participants. Finally, it was found that women are more inclined to use coping strategies focused on emotions, while men use more those that focus on the problem, also finding that family support is essential for coping.