Extraordinary experiences of the bereaved and adaptive outcomes of grief.

A multiple case questionnaire/interview study was used to investigate Extraordinary Experiences (EEs) reported by bereaved individuals. Its purpose was to describe the grief processes of 12 bereaved individuals who had reported EEs. Content analysis consisted of a series of individual case data displays and causal networks from which an overall causal network that described participants' grief processes was derived. Despite some ongoing grief work and complicated grief patterns, 11 participants had reached an adaptive grief outcome. For these individuals, EEs played specific roles and fulfilled specific needs within and outside of the context of bereavement. EEs also facilitated the assimilation/accommodation of death by reinforcing participants' 'personal mythologies' regarding death and an after-life. The findings of this study support the emerging model of grief that posits that maintaining continuing bonds with the deceased can be adaptive. They also support the assertion that spiritual and/or religious belief systems are associated with adaptive outcomes of grief. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]