Reactions to Loss Scale: Assessing Grief in College Students

The most common tools for assessing grief and loss focus on death-related loss. The Reactions to Loss Scale (RTL) broadens the scope of bereavement measures to include reactions to non-death losses. The population targeted by this measure, emerging adults (college students), commonly experiences a m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Omega: Journal of Death and Dying 2010-01, Vol.61 (1), p.25-51
Main Authors: Cooley, Eric, Toray, Tamina, Roscoe, Lauren
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Psychological
Adult
Anxiety-Depression
Attitude to Death
College students
Death & dying
Discriminant analysis
Female
Grief
Humans
Interpersonal Relations
Life satisfaction
Male
Personal Satisfaction
Positive affect
Predictive Value of Tests
Psychometrics
Reliability
Self Concept
Social Support
Students - psychology
Surveys and Questionnaires
Undergraduate students
Validity
Young Adult
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Summary:The most common tools for assessing grief and loss focus on death-related loss. The Reactions to Loss Scale (RTL) broadens the scope of bereavement measures to include reactions to non-death losses. The population targeted by this measure, emerging adults (college students), commonly experiences a myriad of both death-related and non-death losses. The validity of the Reactions to Loss Scale (RTL) is investigated in 4 studies. Factor analysis of the 65-item RTL (N = 564) identified 3 subscales, each demonstrating good reliability. In the first 3 studies, the RTL was found to be related to depression, anxiety, negative affect, and positive measures of satisfaction with life, happiness, and positive affect. In Study 4, prospective data was utilized to evaluate predictive validity. These data found that the RTL was predictive of longitudinal changes in negative affect, perceived social support, satisfaction with life, and positive feelings about the specific loss.
ISSN:0030-2228
1541-3764
DOI:10.2190/OM.61.1.b