Event Centrality and Bereavement Symptomatology: The Moderating Role of Meaning Made

Abstract

The centrality of a loss to a bereaved individual’s identity is associated with greater symptomatology, whereas meaning made of a loss is associated with positive outcomes. This article examines meaning made as a moderator of the relationship between event centrality and symptomatology. Our sample consisted of 204 bereaved undergraduate university students. Centrality was assessed using the Centrality of Events Scale, meaning made was assessed using the Integration of Stressful Life Experiences Scale, and symptomatology was assessed using the posttraumatic stress disorder Checklist-Civilian and Inventory of Complicated Grief-Revised. Meaning made had a significant moderating effect on the relationship between centrality and both measures of symptomatology. At lower levels of meaning made, centrality had a strong and positive association with symptomatology; at higher levels of meaning made, this association became weaker. These results suggest that meaning made is the key to understanding how centrality affects bereavement outcomes.

The effect of suppressing funeral rituals during the COVID-19 pandemic on bereaved families

“…The process of assigning meaning to death, especially in an unexpected and exceptional situation, is seen as a protective factor against complicated grief (19)(20)(21) .…”

“…The latter comprise the death of a child or youth, death of wife or husband, lack of psychological preparedness to deal with death, death in a hospital, among others ( 14 - 16 ) . On the other hand, protection factors against complicated grief include the availability of psychological and social support ( 14 ) , clear communication between the health staff and family members of the deceased ( 17 ) , demonstration of empathy by other family members and the community ( 18 ) , and the meanings assigned to the death of the loved one ( 19 - 21 ) .…”

Association between benefit-finding and identity development in adolescence: are there benefit-finding domains related to high identity achievement?

“…As mentioned earlier, in the two domains of personal growth and greater insight into an intimate relationship, benefits are likely to be derived from past negative events as a whole; however, several combinations patterns were observed with a common pattern of deriving moderate benefits from all domains. In general, individuals who experience highly emotional negative events and consider them to be central to their identity are more likely to find benefits that can help them cope with and adjust to the situations caused by these experiences (Bellet et al, 2016); however, this study also included general negative experiences because traumatic events are not a prerequisite for identity development (McFarland & Alvaro, 2000). It is probable that not being limited to traumatic or extremely stressful events contributes to this common pattern of 'moderate' benefit-finding.…”

“…For example, in a study of young adults who experienced a breakup or major conflicts in regard to romantic relationships, it was found that, not just the experience of the romantic conflict and/or breakup, but the high levels of event centrality associated with these experiences predict later depressive and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms (Boals, 2014). However, adaptively attaching new meaning to the event mediates the relationship between negative-event centrality and PTSD; that is, reconstructing the meaning of and finding benefits from negative events that are central to identity can mitigate or nullify the adverse effects of these events (Bellet et al, 2016). In line with previous research, a recent study on adolescents found that the more central to identity past negative events are, the more benefits are drawn from the events, which in turn leads to higher identity achievement (Watanabe, 2017).…”

“…Further, regarding the level of identity achievement of individuals who experienced a negative event and then attached positive meanings to it, based on the aforementioned buffering effect of benefit-finding (e.g. Bellet et al, 2016), it is hypothesized that individuals who derive sufficient benefits from negative events most central to their identity will show a higher level of identity achievement than those who are unable to attach any positive meanings to their previous negative experience, and that the former will show a comparatively lower level of identity achievement than those with high positive-event centrality.…”