Dual Process Model of Coping With Bereavement in the Test of the Subjective Experiences of Bereaved Spouses

Abstract

The Dual Process Model of Coping With Bereavement (DPM) was developed to better understand the dynamic coping processes adopted by bereaved people. In the present study, we investigated the daily subjective experiences of widowed people and examined whether they recognized themselves in the model. Thirteen out of the 16 interviewed widowed persons reported that their bereavement experience basically fitted the model. However, they also identified discrepancies. Interviews with six bereaved spouses were subjected to an interpretative phenomenological analysis. Three main issues were identified: (a) the interdependence versus distinctiveness of coping processes, (b) the conscious and intentional nature of coping strategies, and (c) the very nature of respite in the grief experience. The results indicated that, although relevant, the DPM did not always match the grieving experiences reported by the widowed individuals. Clinical and research perspectives are discussed.

Keywords

widowhood grief DPM coping IPA

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

American Psychiatric Association (2013) The diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5, 5th ed. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.

American Psychological Association (2002) APA ethics code: Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct. American Psychologist 57: 1060–1073. Retrieved from https://dx-doi-org.web.bisu.edu.cn/10.1037/0003-066X.57.12.1060.

Bennett, K. M., Gibbons, K., & Mackenzie-Smith, S. (2010). Loss and restoration in later life: An examination of dual process model of coping with bereavement. OMEGA-Journal of Death and Dying, 61(4), 315–332.

Bennett, K. M., Smith, P. T., & Hughes, G. M. (2005). Coping, depressive feelings and gender differences in late life widowhood. Aging & Mental Health, 9(4), 348–353.

Caserta

M. S.

Lund

D. A.

(2007) Toward the development of an Inventory of Daily Widowed Life (IDWL): Guided by the dual process model of coping with bereavement. Death Studies 31(6): 505–534. Retrieved from https://dx-doi-org.web.bisu.edu.cn/10.1080/07481180701356761.

Delespaux

Ryckebosch-Dayez

A. S.

Heeren

Zech

(2013) Attachment and severity of grief: The mediating role of negative appraisal and inflexible coping. Omega 67(3): 269–289.

Eatough

Smith

(2008) Interpretative phenomenological analysis. In: Willig

Stainton Rogers

(eds) The SAGE handbook of qualitative research in psychology, London, England: SAGE, pp. 179–195. Retrieved from https://dx-doi-org.web.bisu.edu.cn/10.4135/9781848607927.n11.

Elwert

Christakis

(2008) The effect of widowhood on mortality by the causes of death of both spouses. American Journal of Public of Public Health 98(11): 2092–2098. Retrieved from https://dx-doi-org.web.bisu.edu.cn/10.2105/AJPH.2007.114348.

Fade

(2004) Using interpretative phenomenological analysis for public health. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 63(4): 647–653. Retrieved from https://dx-doi-org.web.bisu.edu.cn/10.1079/PNS2004398.

10.

Fossey

Harvey

McDermott

Davidson

(2002) Understanding and evaluating qualitative research. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 36(6): 717–732. Retrieved from https://dx-doi-org.web.bisu.edu.cn/10.1046/j.1440-1614.2002.01100.x.

11.

Freud, S. (1917). Mourning and melancholia. In J. Strachey (Ed. & Trans.), The standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud, Volume XIV (1914–1916): On the history of the psycho-analytic movement, papers on metapsychology and other works (pp. 237–258). London, England: The Hogarth Press.

12.

Hansson

R. O.

Stroebe

M. S.

(2007) Bereavement in later life: Coping, adaptation, and developmental influences, Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

13.

Heidegger, M. (2000). Introduction to metaphysics (G. Fried & R. Polt, Trans.). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

14.

Horvath

A. O.

Del Re

A. C.

Flückiger

Symonds

(2011) Alliance in individual psychotherapy. In: Norcross

J. C.

(ed.) Psychotherapy relationships that work: Therapist contributions and responsiveness to patients, 2nd ed. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, pp. 25–69. Retrieved from https://dx-doi-org.web.bisu.edu.cn/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199737208.003.0002.

15.

Husserl, E. (1960). Cartesian meditations (D. Cairns, Trans.). Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Kluwer.

16.

Janoff-Bulman

(1992) Shattered assumptions: Towards a new psychology of trauma, New York, NY: Free Press.

17.

Kauffman, J. (Ed.). (2002). Loss of the assumptive world. New York, NY: Brunner-Routledge.

18.

Lazarus

R. S.

Folkman

(1984) Stress, appraisal and coping, New York, NY: Springer.

19.

Stroebe

M. S.

Chan

Chow

(2014) Guilt in bereavement: A review and conceptual framework. Death Studies 38(3): 165–171. Retrieved from https://dx-doi-org.web.bisu.edu.cn/10.1080/07481187.2012.738770.

20.

Lund, D., Caserta, M., Utz, R., & de Vries, B. (2010). Experiences and early coping of bereaved spouses/partners in an intervention based on the dual process model (DPM). OMEGA-Journal of Death and Dying, 61(4), 291–313.

21.

Merleau-Ponty, M. (2005). Phenomenology of perception (C. Smith, Trans.). London, England: Routledge.

22.

Norcross

J. C.

Lambert

M. J.

(2011) Evidence-based therapy relationships. In: Norcross

J. C.

(ed.) Psychotherapy relationships that work: Evidence-based responsiveness, 2nd ed. New York, NY: Oxford, pp. 3–21.

23.

Palmer

Larkin

de Visser

Fadden

(2010) Developing an interpretative phenomenological approach to focus group data. Qualitative Research in Psychology 7(2): 99–121. Retrieved from https://dx-doi-org.web.bisu.edu.cn/10.1080/14780880802513194.

24.

Parkes

C. M.

(1988) Bereavement as a psychosocial transition: Processes of adaptation to change. Journal of Social Issues 44(3): 53–65. Retrieved from https://dx-doi-org.web.bisu.edu.cn/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1988.tb02076.x.

25.

Parkes

C. M.

(2011) Introduction: The historical landscape of loss: Development of bereavement studies. In: Neimeyer

R. A.

Harris

D. L.

Winokuer

H. R.

Thornton

G. F.

(eds) Grief and bereavement in contemporary society: Bridging research and practice, New York, NY: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group, pp. 1–5.

26.

Prigerson

H. G.

Horowitz

M. J.

Jacobs

S. C.

Parkes

C. M.

Aslan

Goodkin

Maciejeweki

P. K.

(2009) Prolonged grief disorder: Psychometric validation of criteria proposed for DSMV and ICD-11. PLoS Med 6(8): e1000121. . Retrieved from https://dx-doi-org.web.bisu.edu.cn/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000121.

27.

Prigerson, H. G., Maciejewski, P. K., Reynolds, C. F., Bierhals, A. J., Newsom, J. T., Fasiczka, A., ... Miller, M. (1995). Inventory of Complicated Grief: A scale to measure maladaptive symptoms of loss. Psychiatry research, 59(1), 65–79.

28.

Richardson

V. E.

Balaswamy

(2001) Coping with bereavement among elderly widowers. Omega: Journal of Death and Dying 43(2): 129–144. Retrieved from https://dx-doi-org.web.bisu.edu.cn/10.2190/Y2Q6-BB75-ENM7-BBYR.

29.

Smith

J. A.

(2004) Reflecting on the development of interpretative phenomenological analysis and its contribution to qualitative research in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology 1(1): 39–54.

30.

Smith

J. A.

(2007) Hermeneutics, human sciences and health: Linking theory and practice. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-Being 2(1): 3–11. Retrieved from https://dx-doi-org.web.bisu.edu.cn/10.3402/qhw.v2i1.4940; https://dx-doi-org.web.bisu.edu.cn/10.1080/17482620601016120.

31.

Smith

J. A.

Flowers

Larkin

(2009) Interpretative phenomenological analysis, London, England: SAGE.

32.

Stroebe

M. S.

Schut

(1999) The Dual Process Model of Coping with Bereavement: Rationale and description. Death Studies 23(3): 197–224. Retrieved from https://dx-doi-org.web.bisu.edu.cn/10.1080/074811899201046.

33.

Stroebe

M. S.

Schut

(2008) The Dual Process Model of Coping with Bereavement: Overview and update. Grief Matters: The Australian Journal of Grief and Bereavement 11: 1–4.

34.

Stroebe

M. S.

Schut

(2010) The Dual Process Model of Coping with Bereavement: A decade on. Omega: Journal of Death and Dying 61(4): 273–289. Retrieved from https://dx-doi-org.web.bisu.edu.cn/10.2190/OM.61.4.b.

35.

Utz

R. L.

Caserta

Lund

(2012) Grief, depressive symptoms, and physical health among recently bereaved spouses. The Gerontologist 52(4): 460–471. Retrieved from https://dx-doi-org.web.bisu.edu.cn/10.1093/geront/gnr110.

36.

Wegner

D. M.

(1994) Ironic processes of mental control. Psychological Review 101(1): 34–52. Retrieved from https://dx-doi-org.web.bisu.edu.cn/10.1037/0033-295X.101.1.34.

37.

Worden

J. W.

(2002) Grief counseling and grief therapy: A handbook for the mental health practitioner, 3rd ed. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Co.

38.

Wijngaards

Stroebe

M. S.

Stroebe

Schut

van den Bout

van der Heijden

Dijkstra

(2008) Parents grieving the loss of their child: Interdependence in coping. British Journal of Clinical Psychology 47(1): 31–42. Retrieved from https://dx-doi-org.web.bisu.edu.cn/10.1348/014466507X216152.

39.

Yardley

(2000) Dilemmas in qualitative health research. Psychology & Health 15(2): 215–228. Retrieved from https://dx-doi-org.web.bisu.edu.cn/10.1080/08870440008400302.