Investigating the applicability of the Two-Track Model of Bereavement to a Southern sample of African American adults

ABSTRACT

Established bereavement and grief theory is often created by non-Hispanic White researchers and normed in non-Hispanic White populations. However, this can fail to capture the diversity of the grief experience. We used semi-structured interviews with 14 middle-to-older aged African Americans to investigate whether responses to loss were consistent with the well-established Two-Track Model of Bereavement. African Americans were found engage with their losses in ways that were mostly consistent with the model, though there was moderate cultural nuance unaddressed by the model. Findings could help inform the modification of the Two-Track Model for increased sensitivity to bereaved African American populations.

Disclosure statement

None of the authors of this manuscript have any financial or other interests to disclose.