Stability of breakup distress following romantic dissolutions during emerging adulthood: individual and mean level

Prior research has identified stable personal characteristics and situational factors as predictors of romantic breakup distress, yet their relative contributions remain unclear. This longitudinal study examined the extent to which breakup distress reflects stable individual differences versus situational factors and whether average distress levels change across emerging adulthood. Data were collected from 124 Israeli young adults at four time points (ages 20, 23, 25, and 28). The raw intraclass correlation coefficient indicated that 43% of the variance in breakup distress was stable across measurements. Surprisingly, when controlling for attachment and emotion regulation patterns, stability increased to 53%, suggesting these traditionally stable traits may primarily influence responses to situation-specific aspects of breakups rather than determining baseline distress tendencies. Mixed-effects modeling revealed no significant mean-level changes in breakup distress throughout emerging adulthood (b = -0.04, p =.16). These findings suggest the existence of a core predisposition for experiencing breakup distress that may be governed by mechanisms different from those traditionally emphasized in the literature. While attachment patterns and emotion regulation tendencies play significant roles in explaining individual differences in breakup distress, our results indicate they may not underlie the core stability in one’s baseline tendency to experience post-relationship distress. The findings, therefore, point to a potentially distinct, stable trait underlying breakup distress. Future research should explore alternative individual difference variables that might better account for the remarkable stability in baseline breakup distress levels observed in this study.