Attachment--and loss.

Emotion and Adaptation

Interest in meaning and meaning making in the context of stressful life events continues to grow, but research is hampered by conceptual and methodological limitations. Drawing on current theories, the author first presents an integrated model of meaning making. This model distinguishes between the constructs of global and situational meaning and between "meaning-making efforts" and "meaning made," and it elaborates subconstructs within these constructs. Using this model, the author reviews the empirical research regarding meaning in the context of adjustment to stressful events, outlining what has been established to date and evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of current empirical work. Results suggest that theory on meaning and meaning making has developed apace, but empirical research has failed to keep up with these developments, creating a significant gap between the rich but abstract theories and empirical tests of them. Given current empirical findings, some aspects of the meaning-making model appear to be well supported but others are not, and the quality of meaning-making efforts and meanings made may be at least as important as their quantity. This article concludes with specific suggestions for future research.

Making Sense of the Meaning Literature: An Integrative Review of Meaning Making and Its Effects on Adjustment to Stressful Life Events.

The Seasons of a Man’s Life

Bereavement is a severe stressor that typically incites painful and debilitating symptoms of acute grief that commonly progresses to restoration of a satisfactory, if changed, life. Normally, grief does not need clinical intervention. However, sometimes acute grief can gain a foothold and become a chronic debilitating condition called complicated grief. Moreover, the stress caused by bereavement, like other stressors, can increase the likelihood of onset or worsening of other physical or mental disorders. Hence, some bereaved people need to be diagnosed and treated. A clinician evaluating a bereaved person is at risk for both over-and under-diagnosis, either pathologizing a normal condition or neglecting to treat an impairing disorder. The authors of DSM IV focused primarily on the problem of over-diagnosis, and omitted complicated grief because of insufficient evidence. We revisit bereavement considerations in light of new research findings. This article focuses primarily on a discussion of possible inclusion of a new diagnosis and dimensional assessment of complicated grief. We also discuss modifications in the bereavement V code and refinement of bereavement exclusions in major depression and other disorders.

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Complicated grief and related bereavement issues for DSM‐5

Participants addressed questions relating to the role(s) that deceased mentors continue to play in their lives, if any. Three active roles, designated as role model, situation specific guidance, and values clarification emerged, along with one inactive role designated remembrance formation. Roles were evenly distributed among participants. Membership in role category appeared unrelated to participants' age, gender, relationship to mentor, length and timing of mentoring, degree of grief resolution, emotional stability, and a number of other potentially relevant variables. Findings are discussed in relation to Western theories of grief, the emerging literature on continuing bonds with the deceased, and implications for conceptual changes in the language and goals of grief therapy and grief counseling.

Role of Deceased Mentors in the Ongoing Lives of Protégés

Expectancy effects in Rorschach testing

The transition from "wife" to "caregiver" for a cognitively impaired husband can be an overwhelming experience. Communication patterns change and small conflicts can grow, at times bringing angry feelings and new burdens. Engagement with forgiveness processes may benefit wives by lowering resentment over past tensions, restoring trust, and enhancing the overall caregiving experience. This study examined the utility of the Enright Forgiveness Inventory (EFI) within a sample of caregiving wives. Our intent was to better understand this population's experience with forgiveness when other contextual factors were likely to influence this process. Forgiveness scores on the EFI were positively related to the cognitive status of the care recipient, a particularly important finding for clinical intervention, and inversely related to marital distress and state anxiety.

Dementia spousal caregivers and past transgressions: Measuring and understanding forgiveness experiences.

Summary Earlier research obtained evidence for examiner (E) expectancies biasing both subjects' Rorschach responses and Es' test reports of Ss. To test the hypothesis that test report bias results directly from Es' exposure to pretest information and not from Es' exposure to biased protocol data, a matched set of Es wrote new reports from the biased protocols but without knowledge of the biasing instructions. The new data did not differ significantly from those obtained earlier, thus failing to support the hypothesis. They did, however, present some interesting contrasts which raise questions about the interpretation of the earlier results.

Samuel J. Marwit

Papers

Role of Deceased Mentors in the Ongoing Lives of Protégés

Expectancy effects in Rorschach testing

Dementia spousal caregivers and past transgressions: Measuring and understanding forgiveness experiences.

Further notes on the effect of pretest expectancies on the psychological test report.

Marwit-Meuser Caregiver Grief Inventory--Short Form