Conscious and unconscious coping with loss

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Bereavement Studies
• Health Psychology

Background:

• Spousal loss is a significant life stressor with profound psychological impacts.
• Existing clinical assumptions about coping with loss require empirical validation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between coping strategies and psychological outcomes in individuals bereaved by spousal death or life-threatening illness.
• To examine the mediating role of coping mechanisms in bereavement outcomes over a 25-month period.

Main Methods:

• Longitudinal study of 67 individuals 1-2 months post-spousal loss, followed for 25 months.
• Assessed coping (Ways of Coping Scale), ego defenses, and sociodemographics at baseline.
• Measured outcomes including mortality, hospitalization, self-rated health, depressive symptoms, anxiety, and separation distress.

Main Results:

• Bereavement itself was not significantly related to outcomes.
• Low problem-focused planning and coping by making a change predicted higher separation distress.
• Less problem-focused planning and specific ego defense patterns predicted higher depression scores.
• Coping by self-blame showed an inverse relationship with separation distress at 25 months.

Conclusions:

• Coping strategies, particularly problem-focused planning and ego defenses, significantly mediate psychological outcomes following spousal loss.
• Findings challenge some prevailing clinical assumptions about effective coping in bereavement.
• Emphasizes the importance of empirical research in understanding coping as a mediator of loss outcomes.