title: Feeling the absence: a content analysis from the Scott and White grief study.
abstract: In an effort to understand how the bereaved "make sense" of deaths they have experienced, 85 mourners were asked to write a free essay in response to the question, "What does the death of your loved one mean to you?" In a content analysis of the resulting narratives, 9 unique meaning constructs emerged, the most prominent of which spoke to the theme of feeling the absence of the decedent. A distinction was drawn between meaning categories referent to pain and suffering versus recovery and hope and between consequent/instrumental forms of meaning versus philosophical/existential meanings. Implications for additional study of the relationship between meaning constructs and bereavement adaptation were discussed.
authors.affiliation: Scott & White Clinic and Memorial Hospital, Texas A & M Health Science Center College of Medicine, Temple, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: Louis A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Gamino
authors.forename: Nancy S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Hogan
authors.forename: Kenneth W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Sewell
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D001601:Bereavement; D003643:Death; D005086:Existentialism; D005260:Female; D006117:Grief; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male