Attachment and severity of grief: The mediating role of negative appraisal and inflexible coping
Open accessAbstract
According to the Dual Process Model of coping with bereavement (DPM; Stroebe & Schut, 1999), adjustment to bereavement involves a flexible oscillation between two types of coping strategies: loss-oriented (LO) and restoration-oriented (RO). This model postulates that extremely anxious or avoidant attachment disturbs the oscillation process by focusing more on one type of strategy, either LO or RO. The present study examined this assumption. We recruited 321 bereaved individuals who had lost a romantic partner. Our results showed that less negative appraisal of bereavement-related stressors, as well as higher use of RO strategies, mediated the link between attachment avoidance and low severity of grief reactions. However, the DPM variables were not found to mediate the link between attachment anxiety and elevated grief reactions. We discuss how these results provide an empirical basis of the DPM.
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Delespaux et al. (2013) reported that using more loss- versus restoration-oriented coping showed a large positive association with complicated grief symptoms.
“and Delespaux et al. (2013) reported that using more lossversus restoration-oriented coping showed a large positive association with CG symptoms.”
From Emotion Regulatory Strategies in Complicated Grief: A Systematic Review (2021) · cites this paper as Delespaux et al. (2013)
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References 42 · Cited by 40
- Authors
- Delespaux, E., Ryckebosch-Dayez, A.-S., Heeren, A., & Zech, E.
- Affiliations
- UCLouvain (BE)
- Fund for Scientific Research (BE)
- Corresponding author
- Delespaux, Emily
- Venue
- OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2013-11
- Volume
- 67
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 269-289
- ISSN
- 0030-2228 (ISSN-L)
- 1541-3764
- OpenAlex
- W2058510885
- Cited by
- 40
- References
- 42
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 4 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 2 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 2.22
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- hdl.handle.net
- Locations
- OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Digital Access to Libraries (Université catholique de Louvain (UCL), l'Université de Namur (UNamur) and the Université Saint-Louis (USL-B)) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- 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
- grief severity, attachment, attachment avoidance, attachment anxiety, negative appraisals, bereavement, mediation
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Psychological, Adult, Affective Symptoms, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Defense Mechanisms, Female, France, Grief, Humans, Internal-External Control, Interpersonal Relations, Male, Middle Aged, Models, Psychological, Object Attachment, Social Adjustment, Social Support, Young Adult
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