The Social Meaning in Life Events Scale (SMILES): A preliminary psychometric evaluation in a bereaved sample (original) (raw)
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Social support in bereavement: Developing and validating a new scale
International Journal of Psychology, 2021
Although social support has been considered to be beneficial for the bereaved, mixed findings exist in the literature. This may be due to variations in conceptualising and measuring social support. This study aims to offer a new validated scale for research on social support in bereavement. Part 1 describes the generation of the item pool, which was derived from narratives of 28 bereaved Chinese. Part 2 includes the items selected using item analysis and explanatory factor analysis to form the preliminary version of the Scale of Social Support in Bereavement (SSB) based on data collected from 195 bereaved adults. Part 3 examined the psychometric properties of the newly developed SSB with a sample of another 196 bereaved adults. The results of confirmatory factor analysis indicated a useful structure of four factors, including "living support," "economic support," "grief processing," and "emotion restoration." The convergent validity, internal consistency reliability and test-retest reliability of the measure were shown to be strong. SSB is the first scale which measures comprehensive types of support in bereavement. It can be applied in exploration of the role of social support in bereavement, and validated in different cultural contexts.
The Unfinished Business in Bereavement Scale (UBBS): Development and psychometric evaluation
Death Studies, 2018
Although unresolved issues with the deceased are often targeted in bereavement interventions, understanding of this construct has been hampered by the lack of a psychometrically validated scale to assess it. To address this gap, the Unfinished Business in Bereavement Scale (UBBS) was developed and tested in two samples of bereaved adults (n = 292 and 168). In exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, the UBBS was found to be composed of two related factors. Items tapping into Unfulfilled Wishes pertained to unspoken affirmations or missed opportunities with the deceased. These experiences often emerged in loving relationships and only became problematic when accompanied by high levels of distress. In contrast, Unresolved Conflict pertained to unaddressed disputes or indiscretions. It primarily occurred in relationships characterized by anxiety and conflict and conferred risk for prolonged grief reactions even when endorsed at moderate levels. Other findings strongly supported the internal consistency, concurrent validity, and incremental validity of the UBBS. Unfinished business and meaning made of loss together accounted for 50-60% of the variance in prolonged grief symptoms. Implications for clinical practice and future research are discussed.
A Psychometric Evaluation of the Core Bereavement Items
Assessment, 2013
Despite being a routinely administered assessment of grieving, few studies have empirically examined the psychometric properties of the Core Bereavement Items (CBI). The present study investigated the factor structure, internal reliability, and concurrent validity of the CBI in a large, diverse sample of bereaved young adults (N = 1,366). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (conducted on randomly selected halves of the sample) supported a two-factor structure, with items tapping into grief-related Thoughts and Emotional Response to loss. These factors showed strong internal consistency and unique associations with demographic variables, circumstantial factors surrounding the loss, and a measure of prolonged/severe grief-highlighting the potential applicability of the identified factor structure.
Loss, grief and depression: potential risk factors in grief-related depression
Anadolu psikiyatri dergisi, 2018
Objective: The present study investigates the association of depression with grief-related risk factors among bereaved individuals. Methods: The data were collected from 161 bereaved individuals who lost a first-degree relative or a partner within the past six months. A highly semi-structured interview conducted to collect the data across several domains, including demographic variables, the relationship with deceased, the mode of death, past-traumatic experiences, and general life stressors. The Beck Depression Scales was used to gather depression scores. Chi-square tests (with continuity correction for 2x2 tables) were used to examine for possible differences in the categorical variables, and multiple regression analysis was used to examine the grief-related risk factors for depression. Results: Factors such as sudden death, conflicted relationship with the deceased, witnessing the death of a loved one, and receiving social support have been associated with mourning depression. Frequency of depression was significantly more prevalent in participants who lost a loved one suddenly, had negative relationship with deceased and had a lack of family and social support. The frequency of depression was found higher in females. Conclusion: The conflict resolutions play a significant role in coping with grief and related psychopathology. The clinical treatment methods need to address these issues and ought to emphasize the use of social support in treating grief-related depression.
Validation of the Integration of Stressful Life Experiences Scale–Short Form in a Bereaved Sample
Death Studies, 2014
The Integration of Stressful Life Experiences Scale (ISLES) is an assessment of meaning made of stress that has been used successfully with bereaved individuals and other vulnerable populations. Drawing upon information from 741 bereaved respondents, the present study tests the validity of the ISLES-Short Form (ISLES-SF), which is a 6-item version of the original 16-item measure. Tests of concurrent and incremental validity yielded highly similar patterns of results for the full ISLES and ISLES-SF, supporting the use of this briefer version of the scale. Results also highlighted the unique association (controlling for demographics, circumstances of the death, and prolonged grief symptoms) between greater meaning made of loss and higher levels of mental and physical health. These findings add to a growing body of literature that supports theoretical models that view meaning-making as a crucial determinant of adjustment to loss among many grievers.
Death Studies, 2012
Dimensions of personality may shape an individual's response to loss both directly and indirectly through its effects on other variables such as an individual's ability to seek social support. The mediating effect of social support on the relationship between personality (i.e., extraversion and neuroticism) and 2 construals of meaning (i.e., sense-making and benefit-finding) among 325 bereaved individuals was explored using path analysis. Supporting our hypotheses, social support mediated the relationship between personality and construals of meaning. Neuroticism was negatively and indirectly associated with both sense-making and benefit-finding through social support. Extraversion had a significant positive relationship to social support, which, in turn, mediated the impact of extraversion on both sense-making and benefit finding. The model explained 35% of the variance in social support, 19% of the variance in sense-making, and 25% of the variance in benefit-finding. Implications are discussed in light of existing theories of bereavement and loss. The loss of a loved one can be a traumatic event that can challenge an individual's existing assumptions about benevolence, meaning of life, and self-worth. Particularly in the face of a traumatic loss,
Event Centrality and Bereavement Symptomatology: The Moderating Role of Meaning Made
OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying, 2016
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 underst...
Inventory of Complicated Grief: a scale to measure maladaptive symptoms of loss
Psychiatry research, 1995
Certain symptoms of grief have been shown (a) to be distinct from bereavement-related depression and anxiety, and (b) to predict long-term functional impairments. We termed these symptoms of "complicated grief" and developed the Inventory of Complicated Grief (ICG) to assess them. Data were derived from 97 conjugally bereaved elders who completed the ICG, along with other self-report scales measuring grief, depression, and background characteristics. Exploratory factor analyses indicated that the ICG measured a single underlying construct of complicated grief. High internal consistency and test-retest reliabilities were evidence of the ICG's reliability. The ICG total score's association with severity of depressive symptoms and a general measure of grief suggested a valid, yet distinct, assessment of emotional distress. Respondents with ICG scores > 25 were significantly more impaired in social, general, mental, and physical health functioning and in bodily pain...