Attachment and meaning-making in perinatal bereavement

Tanya H. Uren*, Colin A. Wastell

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    92 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The study examined the psychological impact of perinatal bereavement on 108 women, from a dual attachment and meaning-making perspective, both descriptively and predictively. The study hypothesized that grief acuity is a function of both attachment security (operationalized by A. Antonovsky's 1979 Sense of Coherence [SOC] scale), and the ongoing search for meaning. Controlling for time post-loss, psychological distress and intrusive thoughts; sense of coherence and search for meaning significantly predicted current grief acuity. The findings supported the conceptualization of grief as an interpretive phenomenon, elicited by the loss of a primary attachment figure, thereby shattering core life purposes, and implicating the need to reinstate meaning.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)279-308
    Number of pages30
    JournalDeath Studies
    Volume26
    Issue number4
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2002

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