Attachment, Continuing Bonds, and Complicated Grief Following Violent Loss: Testing a Moderated Model

There is increasing consensus that mourners' general attachment security and ongoing sense of connectedness to the deceased figure prominently in adjustment to bereavement. However, the interplay between these variables has not been investigated thoroughly. We therefore studied 195 young adults...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Death studies 2015-01, Vol.39 (4), p.201-210
Main Authors: Currier, Joseph M., Irish, Jennifer E. F., Neimeyer, Robert A., Foster, Joshua D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accidents - psychology
Adaptation, Psychological - classification
Adjustment
Adolescent
Adult
Anxiety
Bereavement
Death
Death & dying
Emotions
Escape Reaction
Female
Grief
Health technology assessment
Homicide - psychology
Humans
Male
Object Attachment
Prognosis
Psychological Techniques
Psychopathology
Social Adjustment
Suicide - psychology
Violence
Young adults
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Summary:There is increasing consensus that mourners' general attachment security and ongoing sense of connectedness to the deceased figure prominently in adjustment to bereavement. However, the interplay between these variables has not been investigated thoroughly. We therefore studied 195 young adults who were bereaved by violent causes (homicide, suicide, and fatal accidents) in the previous 2 years, measuring their attachment-related insecurities (anxiety and avoidance), their specific ongoing attachment or "continuing bond" (CB) to the deceased, and their complicated grief (CG) symptomatology over the loss of this relationship. Analyses indicated that CBs were concurrently linked with greater CG symptomatology. However, other results also suggested that attachment could moderate the adaptiveness of maintaining a sense of connection to the deceased loved one. Specifically, CBs were less predictive of CG symptomatology for individuals with high anxiety and low avoidance, and most predictive of intense grieving for bereaved people whose attachment styles were more highly avoidant and minimally anxious. These findings suggest the relevance of evaluating the appropriateness of clinical techniques that emphasize or deemphasize the CB for mourners who differ in their styles of attachment. Such studies could potentially promote a better match of interventions to clients whose styles of coping are congruent with these procedures.
ISSN:0748-1187
1091-7683
DOI:10.1080/07481187.2014.975869