Relationship of hope, coping styles, concurrent losses, and setting to grief resolution in the elderly widow(er).
This descriptive study was based on Dimond's Bereavement Adaptation Model; investigation was made of the relationship between hope, concurrent losses, coping style, setting (hospital, hospice, nursing home), and grief resolution. Seventy-five elderly persons who had been widowed 12-18 months completed the Herth Hope Scale, the Jalowiec Coping Scale, and the Grief Resolution Index by mail. A significant positive relationship was found between effective grief resolution and a high hope level; 0-1 concurrent losses; the use of confrontive, optimistic, palliative, supportant, and self-reliant coping styles; and the death of the spouse within a hospice setting. The importance of the type of setting, hope level, and specific coping styles on grief resolution in the elderly widow(er) is suggested by the findings.
Herth
K
K
School of Nursing, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb 60115-2894.
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006117:Grief; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009013:Morale; D012847:Single Person / Q000523:psychology*; D012944:Social Support