The Two-Track Model of Bereavement Questionnaire (TTBQ): Development and Validation of a Relational Measure

Abstract

The Two-Track Model of Bereavement Questionnaire (TTBQ) was designed to assess response to loss over time. Respondents were 354 persons who completed the 70-item self-report questionnaire constructed in accordance with the Two-Track Model of Bereavement. Track I focuses on the bereaved's biopsychosocial functioning and Track II concerns the bereaved's ongoing relationship to the range of memories, images, thoughts, and feeling states associated with the deceased. Factor analysis identified 5 factors that accounted for 51% of the variance explained. In accord with the theoretical and clinical model, 3 factors were primarily associated with the relationship to the deceased (Track II): Active Relational Grieving, Close and Positive Relationship, and Conflictual Relationship; and 2 factors with aspects of functioning (Track I): General Biopsychosocial Functioning and Traumatic Perception of the Loss. Construct and concurrent validity were examined and were found satisfactory. Differences by kinship, cause of death, gender, and time elapsed were examined across the 5 factors, the total TTBQ, and the ITG. The new measure is shown to have both construct and concurrent validity. Discussions of the results and implications for the measurement of response to loss conclude the article.

Bereaved Jewish Mothers of Children Who Died of Cancer

“…30 However, the overall text of the items in the current study was the same as the last version of the TTBQ. Second, generalization of the study results is limited because of the fact that the study sample was composed only of mothers of Jewish origin.…”

“…This relationship was assessed by 20 items from the TTBQ 30 regarding their relationship to the deceased (eg, ''I think of my child all the time''; ''I avoid things that remind me of my child''). The bereaved mothers were asked to rate the extent of their agreement with each item on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from ''strongly disagree'' to ''strongly agree.''…”

“…30 The instrument includes 16 statements related to functioning in biopsychosocial parameters according to the mother's perception (eg, ''I function at work very well''; ''My mood is very good''). The extent of agreement with each item is rated on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from ''strongly disagree'' to ''strongly agree.''…”

Grief counselling and therapy

“…Research on both these models is benefiting from the recent development of measures to assess their central mechanisms (Caserta & Lund, 2007;Rubin et al, 2009). Finally, a focus on meaning reconstruction as a centrally relevant process in grieving (Neimeyer, 2001;Park, 2008) has yielded a good deal of evidence that an inability to make sense of the loss in spiritual, secular or practical terms plays a pivotal role in adaptation to bereavement, accounting for greatly more of the intensity of persistent grief symptomatology than objective factors such as the cause of death or the passage of time (Keesee, Currier & Neimeyer, 2008), and perhaps even mediating the impact of violent death on complicated grief responses (Currier, Holland & Neimeyer, 2006).…”

Prolonged Grief in Cambodian Refugees Following Genocide: Rebirth Concerns and Avoidance of Reminders

“…While most studies examining PGD have been undertaken in Western settings, there has been a recent surge in research examining this disorder in other cultural settings, including Taiwan (Chiu et al, 2010), Croatia (Golden & Dalgleish, 2010), Iran (GhaffariNejad, Ahmadi-Mousavi, Gandomkar, & Reihani-Kermani, 2007), Israel (Rubin et al, 2009), Rwanda (Schaal, Elbert, & Neuner, 2009;Schaal, Jacob, Dusingizemungu, & Elbert, 2010), Kosovo (Morina, Rudari, Bleichhardt, & Prigerson, 2010), Pakistan , in Australia with Iraqi refugees (Nickerson et al, 2011), and in the United States with Bosnian refugees (Craig, Sossou, Schnak, & Essex, 2008).…”