Year: 2004
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: This study examined 32 female, middle-aged bereaved subjects involved in a rural grief therapy group, applying the Transtheoretical Model of Change (Prochaska & DiClemente, 1982, 1983) to the tasks of mourning (Worden, 2002), with the purpose of extending the change model beyond pathological issues, while furthering the individualization of interventions for the bereaved. Individual volunteers were administered three self-report instruments including the Texas Revised Grief Inventory (Faschingbauer, Zisook, & DeVaul, 1987), the Tasks of Mourning: Self-Report Instrument (adapted by the researcher from Worden, 2002), and the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment (McCannaughty, Prochaska, & Velicer, 1983). The correlations between the individual stages of change and the sequential tasks of mourning were not statistically significant. Post hoc comparisons demonstrated a strong relationship between Precontemplation and Task Four and a minimal relationship with Tasks Two and Three. This may signify that Precontemplators exhibit a reluctance to express grief and to adapt to life without the deceased. The Action stage was related to Tasks Two, and Three with a limited association with Task Four of mourning. This may indicate that those involved in the mourning process actively express grief and modify their environments, and that the Action stage may be interrupted or discontinued upon fully integrating the loss. Discussion of implications for research and bereavement counseling are presented.
Author: James S. Davis
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2104434758