African Americans in Bereavement: Grief as a Function of Ethnicity

Laurie, Anna; Neimeyer, Robert A.

doi:10.2190/om.57.2.d

Cited by 116 publications

(104 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…High internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.95) has been reported for the ICG-R in samples of both normative [54] and traumatic, premature loss [26]. Laurie and Neimeyer [55] found this measure to have high reliability (α = 0.95) in their sample, which included African American homicidally bereft individuals. In the present sample, the ICG-R also showed had adequate internal consistency (T1, α = 0.94; T2 α = 0.95).…”

Section: Inventory Of Complicated Grief-revised (Icg-r; [23])mentioning

confidence: 93%

Complicated Grief in the Aftermath of Homicide: Spiritual Crisis and Distress in an African American Sample

Neimeyer

Burke

2011

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Both grieving the loss of a loved one and using spirituality or religion as an aid in doing so are common behaviors in the wake of death. This longitudinal examination of 46 African American homicide survivors follows up on our earlier study that established the relation between positive and negative religious coping on the one hand and complicated grief (CG) on the other. In the current report, we broadened this focus to determine the relation between religious coping and other bereavement outcomes, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression, to establish whether religious coping more strongly predicted bereavement distress or vice versa. We also sought to determine if the predictive power of CG in terms of religious coping over time exceeded that of PTSD and depression. Our results suggested a link between negative religious coping (NRC) and all forms of bereavement distress, whereas no such link was found between positive religious coping (PRC) and bereavement outcomes in our final analyses. Significantly, only CG prospectively predicted high levels of spiritual struggle six months later. Clinical implications regarding spiritually sensitive interventions are noted.

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Section: Inventory Of Complicated Grief-revised (Icg-r; [23])mentioning

confidence: 93%

Complicated Grief in the Aftermath of Homicide: Spiritual Crisis and Distress in an African American Sample

Neimeyer

Burke

2011

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“…In a large college student sample, Laurie and Neimeyer [81] also found that young adults who lost a closer versus a distant family member or friend reported greater grief. Additionally, in our community sample, violent death loss (i.e., accident, suicide, or homicide) was associated with greater distress in the griever's relationship with God, and with greater interference with the griever's religious practices and fellowship across both samples.…”

Section: The Inventory Of Complicated Spiritual Grief (Icsg) [75]mentioning

confidence: 93%

Spiritual Distress in Bereavement: Evolution of a Research Program

Burke

Neimeyer

2014

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Many mourners turn to their spiritual beliefs and traditions when confronted by the death of a loved one. However, prior studies have either focused primarily on the benefits of faith following loss or studied spiritual struggle outside the context of bereavement. Moreover, scales to measure bereavement-related crises of faith and interventions specifically designed for spiritually inclined, distressed grievers are virtually non-existent. Our program of research, which to date has consisted of working with Christian grievers and is outlined below, elucidates complicated spiritual grief (CSG)-a spiritual crisis following the loss of a loved one. For example, our longitudinal examination of 46 African American homicide survivors established the relation between positive religious coping, CSG, and complicated grief (CG), to clarify whether religious coping more strongly predicted bereavement distress or vice versa, with a follow-up study that determined the relation between religious coping and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. We replicated and expanded these findings with a diverse sample of 150 grievers to explore the complex relation between CSG, CG, and meaning making in a comparison study of mourners who had experienced traumatic-versus natural death losses. In a companion study, we qualitatively analyzed 84 grievers' narratives and interviewed a 5-member focus group to capture and learn from their firsthand experiences of spiritual distress. To close the gap in terms of CSG assessment, we also developed and validated the Inventory of Complicated Spiritual Grief (ICSG). Currently, our ongoing CSG investigation extends in several directions: first, to a sample of family members OPEN ACCESSReligions 2014, 5 1088 anticipating the loss of their hospice-eligible loved one in palliative care; and, second, to the development and testing of a writing-intensive intervention for newly bereaved, spiritually inclined grievers.

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“…Although maintaining an ongoing relationship with a dead loved one was viewed as pathological in the 20th century by Western psychiatry (Davies, 2004;Klass, 1999), some immigrant and minority cultures within the United States and many indigenous cultures have long valued a bond between the living and the dead (Johnson, 1999;Laurie & Neimeyer, 2008;Shapiro, 1995). More contemporarily, grief theorists have recognized value in continuing bonds (Davies, 2004;Exley, 2004;Klass, 1999), and photographs can foster this sense of ongoing connection (Johnson, 1999;Riches & Dawson, 1998).…”

Section: The Psychotherapeutic Value Of Bereavement Photographymentioning

confidence: 99%