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Updated: Jun 15, 2025

Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure
Published on: September 19, 2019
Embracing Endings: Unveiling the Connection Between Final Conversations, the Opportunity Model for Presence, and
Emily Scheinfeld1, Kelly E Tenzek2, Jessica Cherry3
1School of Communication and Media, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA, USA.
Abstract:
This study examines adult children's loss of a parent through final conversations and communal coping. By looking at survivors' experiences through the lens of the opportunity model for presence (OMP) during the end-of-life (EOL) process, a model that provides a path of engagement leading to a good or bad death and consequent bereavement processes, we quantitatively test the relationships between two communication constructs before and after death of a parent. While final conversations as one construct did not lead to appraisal or action coping, results illustrate that final conversation topics of identity, instrumental, love, and everyday talk, were significantly related to shared appraisal. Instrumental talk and love were significantly related to joint action. Joint action and shared appraisal together led to participants engaging in all three types of coping. Final conversations as a whole, was important for bereavement outcomes, whereas communal coping's role in these relationships was convoluted.
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