Continuing bonds and reconstructing meaning: mitigating complications in bereavement.
Abstract
Drawing on attachment theory and constructivist conceptualizations of bereavement, the authors assessed the relation between continuing bonds coping and meaning reconstruction following the death of a loved one and complicated grief symptomatology. Five hundred six young adults in the first two years of bereavement from a variety of losses completed the Inventory of Complicated Grief along with measures of the strength of their ongoing attachment to the deceased and their capacity to make sense of the loss, find benefit in the experience, and reconstruct a progressive sense of identity following the death. Several variables concerning the survivor, his or her relationship to the deceased, and the nature of the death functioned as risk factors for heightened distress, but their role was generally moderated by meaning-making, often to the point of non-significance. In contrast, higher levels of benefit-finding and positive identity change were associated with lower levels of bereavement complication. Finally, an interaction emerged between sense-making and ongoing attachment to the deceased, suggesting that strong continuing bonds predicted greater levels of traumatic and especially separation distress, but only when the survivor was unable to make sense of the loss in personal, practical, existential, or spiritual terms.
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Meaning-making and bereavement occur within a collective, building coherence through individual and societal meanings.
“Though not a sociologist, Neimeyer and colleagues repeatedly find that meaning-making and bereavement always occur within the confines of a collective, as they build a coherent sense of why the death happened through each member’s individual meanings and more general societal ones (Neimeyer et al., 2006; Currier et al., 2015).”
From The Social Roots of Suicide: Theorizing How the External Social World Matters to Suicide and Suicide Prevention (2021) · cites this paper as Neimeyer et al., 2006
Cites
Treatment of Complicated Grief: A Randomized Controlled Trial
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Gillies, J., & Neimeyer, R. A. (2006) · Journal of Constructivist Psychology · doi:10.1080/10720530500311182 · Cited by 678 · see citing works
Self-citationReligion's role in adjustment to a negative life event: Coping with the loss of a child.
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NEIMEYER, R. A., PRIGERSON, H. G., & DAVIES, B. (2002) · American Behavioral Scientist · doi:10.1177/000276402236676 · Cited by 373 · see citing works
Self-citationContinuing bonds and adjustment at 5 years after the death of a spouse
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Insomnia and complicated grief symptoms in bereaved college students
Hardison, H. G., Neimeyer, R. A., & Lichstein, K. L. (2005) · Behavioral Sleep Medicine · doi:10.1207/s15402010bsm0302_4 · Cited by 206 · see citing works
Self-citationRELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF THE DUTCH VERSION OF THE INVENTORY OF TRAUMATIC GRIEF (ITG)
BOELEN, P. A., DEN BOUT, J. V., DE KEIJSER, J., & HOIJTINK, H. (2003) · Death Studies · doi:10.1080/07481180302889 · Cited by 186 · cited 1× · see citing works
“For example, the newer version was tested in the Netherlands, where a Dutch translation displayed good temporal stability (.92) over a period ranging from 9 to 28 days ( Boelen, Van den Bout, De Keijser, & Hoitjink, 2003 ).”
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Lobb, E. A., Kristjanson, L. J., Aoun, S. M., Monterosso, L., Halkett, G. K. B., & Davies, A. (2010) · Death Studies · doi:10.1080/07481187.2010.496686 · Cited by 611 · see citing works
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Neimeyer, R. A., Klass, D., & Dennis, M. R. (2014) · Death Studies · doi:10.1080/07481187.2014.913454 · Cited by 402 · see citing works
Self-citationMeaning reconstruction in bereavement: Development of a research program
Neimeyer, R. A. (2019) · Death Studies · doi:10.1080/07481187.2018.1456620 · Cited by 242 · see citing works
Self-citationMueller, A. S., Abrutyn, S., Pescosolido, B., & Diefendorf, S. (2021) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.621569 · Cited by 216 · see citing works
“In short, Robert Neimeyer and his many collaborators have demonstrated that sudden deaths, like suicides, are shocking and compel individuals to make sense of them, to sift through available meanings as part of the bereavement process (Gillies and Neimeyer, 2006; Neimeyer et al., 2014).”
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- Authors
- Neimeyer, R. A., Baldwin, S. A., & Gillies, J.
- Affiliations
- University of Memphis (US)
- Corresponding author
- Neimeyer, Robert A.
- Venue
- Death Studies
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2006-09
- Volume
- 30
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 715-738
- ISSN
- 0748-1187 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-7683
- OpenAlex
- W2037241754
- Cited by
- 497
- References
- 9
- Citations by year
- 2026: 35 · 2025: 31 · 2024: 25 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 38 · 2021: 35 · 2020: 27 · 2019: 23 · 2018: 27 · 2017: 30 · 2016: 25 · 2015: 25 · 2014: 30 · 2013: 21 · 2012: 26
- FWCI
- 12.92
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Death Studies (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Death, Funerary Practices, and Mourning
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
- Keywords
- complicated grief, bereavement, continuing bonds, attachment to the deceased, meaning-making, benefit finding, identity reconstruction, separation distress, traumatic grief, young adults, Inventory of Complicated Grief
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Psychological, Adult, Bereavement, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, United States
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