Attachment and meaning-making in perinatal bereavement

Death Stud. 2002 May;26(4):279-308. doi: 10.1080/074811802753594682.

Abstract

The study examined the psychological impact of perinatal bereavement on 108 women, from a dual attachment and meaning-making perspective, both descriptively and predictively. The study hypothesized that grief acuity is a function of both attachment security (operationalized by A. Antonovsky's 1979 Sense of Coherence [SOC] scale), and the ongoing search for meaning. Controlling for time post-loss, psychological distress and intrusive thoughts; sense of coherence and search for meaning significantly predicted current grief acuity. The findings supported the conceptualization of grief as an interpretive phenomenon, elicited by the loss of a primary attachment figure, thereby shattering core life purposes, and implicating the need to reinstate meaning.

MeSH terms

  • Adaptation, Psychological*
  • Australia
  • Bereavement*
  • Female
  • Grief
  • Humans
  • Infant, Newborn*
  • Mothers* / psychology
  • Object Attachment*
  • Pregnancy
  • Spirituality