Date of Award

2-1-1993

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

Abstract

An important component of hospice programs is providing ongoing support to bereaved individuals. Bereaved, who receive organized support following the death of a loved one, have better bereavement outcomes than individuals who do not receive organized support. Many risk factors relating to characteristics of individuals might place them at risk for experiencing a pathological bereavement reaction following the death of their spouse such as the nature of the relationship they had with the deceased, nature of the death of the deceased, behaviors and attitudes appearing early in the grieving process, and specific characteristics of the bereaved individuals. Hence, in identifying individuals at high risk for pathological bereavement reactions before or soon after the death of their spouse, hospice professionals may be able to provide more extensive services to these individuals than is usually provided. This may attenuate pathological grief reactions.The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects that age and an individual's level of sense of coherence (SOC; a pervasive way of viewing the world as comprehensible, manageable and meaningful) have on the psychological and physical well-being of individuals following the death of their spouse. Spouses of terminally ill patients cared for by the United Hospice (N = 26) were assessed upon referral for hospice services to determine their level of SOC. Several demographic variables, including age, were also assessed. One to four months after the death of their spouse, the surviving spouses' level of grief, anxiety, anger, and depression were assessed on the basis of self-report inventories.Goals of the study included prediction of bereavement outcome due to age or SOC and the possible interaction of these two variables. It was found that SOC was a good predictor of early outcome: individuals with low SOC reported more grief, anxiety, anger, and depression. It was also found that younger bereaved with low SOC reported significantly more grief than younger bereaved with high SOC and considerably more grief than the elderly. There were no significant main effects related to age.Finally, regression models for the prediction of grief, anxiety, anger, and depression were conducted. SOC, gender, anticipated employment, and age were able to account for 49.16% of the variance in grief. SOC accounted for 34.21% of the variance in depression. SOC accounted for 40.90% of the variance in anxiety. SOC and gender accounted for 39.00% of the variance in anger.

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