Prediction of complicated grief by positive and negative themes in narratives
✍ Scribed by Andreas Maercker; George A. Bonanno; Hansjoerg Znoj; Mardi J. Horowitz
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1998
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 128 KB
- Volume
- 54
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0021-9762
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
A narrative coding system was employed to investigate the thematic parameters of complicated grief among participants who had recently experienced spousal loss. Two goals guided the research. First, we investigated the prevalence of and interrelationship between positive and negative themes in a narrative interview conducted 6 months into bereavement. The coding system was modeled after Erikson's (1982) scheme of crises solutions across the life span. Second, we examined the relationship of these themes to various symptom measures obtained at 6-and 14 months postloss. Results revealed no systematic relationship between corresponding positive and negative themes. Aggregated positive and negative themes showed significant correlations with 6-month measures of intrusion and
The study was conducted at University of California, San Francisco. Results presented are part of a larger research Program on Conscious and Unconscious Processes in stress response syndromes.