Looking back and moving forward: dimensions of coping flexibility divergently predict long-term bereavement outcomes

ABSTRACT

Background and Objectives

Bereavement is a serious public health concern. Some people suffer prolonged and debilitating functional impairment after the death of a loved one. Evidence suggests that flexibility in coping approaches predicts resilience after stressful life events, but its long-term effects after the unique experience of bereavement are unknown. Which strategies of coping flexibility predict better—or worse—adjustment over time for bereaved people and at what times?

Design and Methods

The present study used path analyses to investigate longitudinal effects of forward-focus and loss-focus coping strategies on symptoms of persistent complex bereavement disorder (PCBD), depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder in a spousally bereaved adult sample (N = 248) at three time-points after the loss (∼3 months, ∼14 months, and ∼25 months).

Results

Forward-focus coping demonstrated adaptive utility overall, with sooner effects on PCBD than on depression. By contrast, loss-focus coping demonstrated a delayed-onset, maladaptive pattern.

Conclusions

The findings contribute to the coping flexibility literature by suggesting that the adaptiveness or maladaptiveness of different coping strategies may depend on the context that requires coping. In particular, forward-focus coping may be substantially more advantageous than loss-focus coping in the context of bereavement. Implications, limitations, and future research directions are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Coping flexibility
• coping strategies
• bereavement
• PCBD
• depression
• PTSD

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (R01 MH091034)