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The present study examines the impact of various types of loss on the assumptive world views of bereaved parents. The World Assumptions Scale (WAS) and the Revised Grief Experience Inventory were administered to 135 parents bereaved by homicide (N = 64), accident (N = 37), and illness (N = 34), and to non-bereaved control parents (N = 30). Bereaved parents held more negative views of the benevolence of the world and reported lower self-worth. No differences were found on the meaningfulness of the world dimension. Parents bereaved by unexpected deaths (homicides and accidents) demonstrated more negative views on benevolence than parents bereaved by expected deaths (illnesses). Parents bereaved by homicide demonstrated the lowest sense of self-worth. Parents bereaved by fatal illness demonstrated the most negative meaningfulness scores. WAS scores were highly predictive of grief intensity; the gender of the deceased child and amount of time elapsed since death were not. Results were compared to earlier findings, and clinical implications are discussed herein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the administration the World Assumptions Scale and the Revised Grief Experience Inventory to parents of murdered children and parents bereaved by sudden accidental death in the United States. Comparison of the views of parents of the benevolence of the world; Similarity of self worthiness; Discussion of clinical implications.

Studies contrasting conceptualizations of the personality's effect upon grief. Traditional ego psychology view versus the Lazarus and Folkman's contextual coping model; Eysenck Personality questionnaire and Grief Experience Inventory, Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations administered; Variables such as neuroticism, extraversion and others.

Seventy-seven female and 86 male psychologist practitioners filled out the Bem Sex Rote Inventory to describe either a healthy adult male, healthy adult female, or healthy adult, sex unspecified. Analyzing the data according to Bem's classification of masculinity, femininity, and androgyny produced a significant Scale X Condition interaction with male and female practitioners ascribing significantly more masculine than feminine traits to healthy adult men, yet displaying no comparable differences when rating healthy adult women. Analyzing the data according to Spence's classification of masculine, feminine, androgynous, and undifferentiated produced a Group X Condition interaction with practitioners ascribing significantly more masculine traits to healthy adult men and significantly more feminine traits to healthy adult women. Reanalyses omitting "masculine" and "feminine" from Bem's fist of sex-typed traits produced nonsignificant results. The relationship of this to recent criticisms of the construct validity of the BSRI and to the validity of earlier results of therapist sex-role bias was discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Videotaped Rorschach instructions from a previous study in which two experimenters had biased subjects for high productivity and two experimenters had biased subjects for low productivity were played (audio or combined audio-visual channels) to matched subjects who then took the free association portion of the test. Biased results were obtained for one experimenter only. These did not interact with communication channels. It was concluded that experimenter-expectancy effects in Rorschach testing are not transmitted simply by exposing subjects to biased experimenters' instructions, but instead depend upon experimenter attributes which may or may not manifest themselves during the instructional phase. Limited evidence suggesting that expectancies are transmitted as effectively by audio as by a combination of audio and visual cues was obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determines whether memories of the deceased play active roles in the ongoing lives of survivors. Successful grief resolution; Investigation of the existence of inner representation of the deceased in the lives of the living; Definition of the nature of inner representation; Search for variables which may predict membership in representational categories.

SUMMARY Fifty-two persons (26 married couples) competed in a complex reaction time task and set durations of 100 db noise for either their respective spouses or an opposite sex stranger. Each S's punitive settings were countered by four presequenced counteraggression strategies. Wives were responsive to a broader range of aggression reduction strategies than were husbands. Results suggest that minimum retaliation is most consistently effective across sex and may be a behavior skill necessary to avoid escalation of aggression and to keep communication channels open. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Bereavement is a universal experience, and its association with excess morbidity and mortality is well established. Nevertheless, grief becomes a serious health concern for a relative few. For such individuals, intense grief persists, is distressing and disabling, and may meet criteria as a distinct mental disorder. At present, grief is not recognized as a mental disorder in the DSM-IV or ICD-10. The goal of this study was to determine the psychometric validity of criteria for prolonged grief disorder (PGD) to enhance the detection and potential treatment of bereaved individuals at heightened risk of persistent distress and dysfunction. Methods and Findings: A total of 291 bereaved respondents were interviewed three times, grouped as 0–6, 6–12, and 12–24 mo post-loss. Item response theory (IRT) analyses derived the most informative, unbiased PGD symptoms. Combinatoric analyses identified the most sensitive and specific PGD algorithm that was then tested to evaluate its psychometric validity. Criteria require reactions to a significant loss that involve the experience of yearning (e.g., physical or emotional suffering as a result of the desired, but unfulfilled, reunion with the deceased) and at least five of the following nine symptoms experienced at least daily or to a disabling degree: feeling emotionally numb, stunned, or that life is meaningless; experiencing mistrust; bitterness over the loss; difficulty accepting the loss; identity confusion; avoidance of the reality of the loss; or difficulty moving on with life. Symptoms must be present at sufficiently high levels at least six mo from the death and be associated with functional impairment. Conclusions: The criteria set for PGD appear able to identify bereaved persons at heightened risk for enduring distress and dysfunction. The results support the psychometric validity of the criteria for PGD that we propose for inclusion in DSM-V and ICD-11.