Attachment Theory as Applied to Wartime and Job-related Marital Separation

Reviews research on wartime, long routine, and short routine marital separation, with focus on spouses' distress, coping, and reunion reactions. Spouses' reactions are interpreted from the perspective of J. Bowlby's (1969) attachment theory (1) to illustrate similarities in spouses' reactions across different types of separation experiences, which argue for an integration of research in this field within a single conceptual framework; (2) to illustrate underlying similarities in separation reactions of adults and children, which further legitimize current extrapolations of attachment theory to adults; and (3) to conceptualize the differential reactions of home-based and traveling spouses, thereby extending attachment theory as it applies to adult romantic relationships. It is argued that a more comprehensive approach to the study of love and intimacy in adulthood requires attention to both the attachment and the caregiving systems.