Date of Award
9-3-1992
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Psychology
Abstract
Twenty-six male and female spouses of patients served by a small hospice in the upper Midwest served as subjects for this dissertation. At the time of referral of their terminally ill spouse they completed measures of Sense of Coherence and social support. Their spouses died from an anticipated death, cancer, and they were contacted by phone within the first three months of bereavement. At that time, measures of grief, depression, anxiety, and anger were obtained.This first hypothesis, that social support would influence bereavement outcome (spouses with more social support would experience less grief, depression, anxiety, and anger than spouses with less social support), was not confirmed. The Inventory of Socially Supportive Behaviors was used to assess social support in a very objective, behavioral manner, with absence to accounts of perceived or subjective social support. It was concluded that social support as measured by the Inventory of Socially Supportive Behaviors was not predictive of bereavement outcome within this period of time, and that subjective accounts of social support may likely still be essential in determining bereavement outcome.The second hypothesis of the study was that Sense of Coherence would predict bereavement outcome. Specifically, it was hypothesized that surviving spouses classified as high in Sense of Coherence would experience significantly less grief, depression, anxiety, and anger than surviving spouses classified as low in Sense of Coherence. Sense of Coherence did accurately predict level of adjustment (i.e., depression, anxiety, and anger) following the death of a spouse. Exploratory analyses revealed that specific components of the Sense of Coherence were responsible for influencing this adjustment. Manageability was the Sense of Coherence component influential in determining levels of anxiety and grief following the death whereas comprehensibility was the Sense of Coherence component responsible for influencing depression and anger. Meaningfulness did not prove predictive of the dependent measures.
Recommended Citation
Johnson, Tracy Lynn, "Social support and sense of coherence as predictors of spousal grief during the first few months of bereavement." (1992). Theses and Dissertations. 8744.
https://commons.und.edu/theses/8744