Complicated grief and the quest for meaning: A constructivist contribution

Neimeyer, Robert A.

doi:10.2190/eql1-ln3v-knyr-18tf

Cited by 112Grief, Bereavement, and Mental HealthDeath, Funerary Practices, and MourningDeath Anxiety and Social Exclusion

Complicated grief and the quest for meaning: A constructivist contribution

Neimeyer, Robert A.·2006·OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying

DOI 10.2190/eql1-ln3v-knyr-18tf

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Abstract

One of the more important results of the upwelling of research on bereavement in recent decades has been the development of criteria for complicated grief, a disorder whose coherence, correlates and consequences have been subjected to increasing scrutiny. In this article I argue that clinical, conceptual, and evidence-based considerations converge to support the further refinement of such criteria, with a special emphasis on their connection to the protracted and painful quest for meaning that characterizes a subset of the bereaved. As further research supports and extends these current efforts, there is reason to believe that an understanding of complicated grief can make a significant contribution to research, theory, and practice concerning adaptation in the wake of loss.

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Meaning-making prospectively predicts positive adaptation to bereavement.
“added to a growing literature, indicate that meaning-making prospectively predicts positive adaptation to bereavement (88, 92–95).”
From Ayahuasca-assisted meaning reconstruction therapy for grief: a non-randomized clinical trial protocol (2025) · cites this paper as [95]

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Authors: Neimeyer, R. A.
Affiliations: University of Memphis (US)
Corresponding author: Neimeyer, Robert A.
ORCID: Neimeyer, Robert A.
Venue: OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Published: 2006-02
Volume: 52
Issue: 1
Pages: 37-52
ISSN: 0030-2228 (ISSN-L)
1541-3764
DOI: 10.2190/eql1-ln3v-knyr-18tf
OpenAlex: W2028227904
Cited by: 109
References: 43
Citations by year: 2026: 6 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 4
FWCI: 5.90
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Licence: journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations: OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying (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, meaning-making, constructivism, diagnostic criteria, grief, adaptation to loss, death and dying

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Complicated grief and the quest for meaning: A constructivist contribution

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