The National Archive of Grief Support Studies
The National Archive of Grief Support Studies(NAGSS) database provides bibliographical information and summaries of recent articles selected for their relevance to grief and bereavement service providers. The articles that are summarized are selected from scholarly, peer-reviewed journals and are intended to highlight key concepts as well as provide a brief statement of implications for service providers. Bibliographical information may be used to obtain the original article.
Continuing Bonds and Reconstructing Meaning: Mitigating Complications in Bereavement
Authors:
Neimeyer, Robert A.
Baldwin, Scott A.
Gillies, James
Source:
Death Studies: 2006. Volume 30, pp. 715-738.
Summary
This article explores the relationship between the bereaved individual’s ability to create meaning and establish continuing bonds after the death of a loved one and symptoms of complicated grief. Attachment theory suggests that upon the death of a loved one, the bereaved must work through the emotional despair and let go of the emotional ties in order to establish new relationships. The continuing bonds theory suggests that an ongoing relationship through frequent re-visitation of memories and images of the deceased is adaptive. This study evaluated the possible interaction between continuing bonds coping and sense-making in predicting symptoms congruent with complicated grief. The researchers recruited 506 participants from undergraduate psychology courses. Each participant in the study completed the Inventory of Complicated Grief, the Continuing Bonds Scale, questions about demographic items, questions about sense-making and factors surrounding the death, as well as the nature of the relationship between the participant and the deceased. The results of the study indicate that low sense-making in conjunction with a strong attachment to the deceased is associated with higher levels of grief-related distress. The researchers found that the ability to find meaning in the death is associated with a better grief outcome.
Key words: bond, complicated, meaning, pathology, prolonged, trauma
Service Provider Implications
Clinicians should be aware that bereaved individuals with a strong attachment to the deceased and an inability to make sense of the death are more likely to experience grief-related distress. In contrast, an ability to make sense of the death can be an important factor that mediates against the development of symptoms of complicated grief.
