Stress, coping styles, and spousal bereavement: Exploring patterns of grieving among black widowed spouses in rural South Africa

Journal of Loss and Trauma

Volumn 14, Issue 3, 2009, Pages 196-210

  Somhlaba, Nceba Z ^a   Wait, John W ^a  

^a STELLENBOSCH UNIVERSITY   (South Africa)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 70449395485     PISSN: 15325024     EISSN: 15325032     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/15325020802537443     Document Type: Article

References (65)

1. Amirkhan, J. H. (1990). A factor analytical derived measure of coping: The coping strategy indicator. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 1066-1074.
2. Amirkhan, J. H. (1994). Criterion validity of a coping measure. Journal of Personality Assessment, 62, 242-261.
3. Babchuk, N., & Anderson, T. B. (1989). Older widows and married women: Their intimates and confidants. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 28, 21-35.
4. Baum, A., Fleming, R., & Singer, J. E. (1983). Coping with victimization by technological disaster. Journal of Social Issues, 39, 117-138.
5. Beck, A. T., & Steer, R. A. (1990). Beck Anxiety Inventory: The manual. New York: Psychological Corporation.
6. Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., & Brown, G. K. (1996). Beck Depression Inventory-Second edition. New York: Psychological Corporation.
7. Bolga, N. (1990). Coping as a personality process: A prospective study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 525-537.
8. Bonanno, G. A., Keltner, D., Holen, A., & Horowitz, M. J. (1995). When avoiding unpleasant emotions might not be such a bad thing: Verbal-autonomic response dissociation and midlife conjugal bereavement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 975-989.
9. Brislin, R. W. (1976). Introduction. In R. W. Brislin (Ed.), Translation: Applications and research (pp. 1-43). New York: Gardner.
10. Broodryk, J. (2006). Ubuntu: Life coping skills from Africa. Randburg, South Africa: Knowres.
11. Broodryk, J. (2007). Understanding South Africa: The Ubuntu way of living. Waterkloof, South Africa: Ubuntu School of Philosophy.
12. Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (1994). Situational coping and coping dispositions in a stressful transaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 184-195.
13. Clayton, P. J. (1990). Bereavement and depression. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 51,34-38.
14. Coetzee, M., & Spangenberg, J. J. (2002). The role of coping styles in the quality of life of people with HIV/AIDS: A review. Unpublished manuscript, Department of Psychology, University of Stellenbosch, Stellen bosch, South Africa.
15. Coyne, J. C., & Gottlieb, B. H. (1996). The mismeasure of coping by checklist. Journal of Personality, 64, 959-991.
16. Coyne, J. C., & Racioppo, M. W. (2000). Never the twain shall meet? Closing the gap between coping research and clinical intervention research. American Psychologist, 55, 655-664.
17. Daggett, L. M. (2002). Living with loss: Middle-aged men face spousal bereavement. Qualitative Health Research, 12, 625-639.
18. De Vries, B. (2007). Advancing the field of spousal bereavement: The art and science of research. Death Studies, 31, 679-683.
19. Field, N. P., Thompson, L. W., & Gallagher-Thompson, D. (2006). Impact of current grief on memory for past grief in spousal bereavement. Memory, 14, 297-306.
20. Folkman, S. (2001). Revised coping theory and the process of bereavement. In M. S. Stroebe, R. O. Hansson, W. Stroebe, & H. Schut (Eds.), Handbook of bereavement research: Consequences, coping and care (pp. 563-584). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
21. Freeman, C. U. (1984). The effects of conjugal bereavement: A comparison between widows and widowers. Unpublished master's thesis, University of Port Elizabeth, Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
22. Fry, P. S. (1998). Spousal loss in late life: A 1-year follow-up of perceived changes in life meaning and psychosocial functioning following bereavement. Loss and Trauma, 3, 369-391.
23. Gallagher, D. E., Thompson, L. W., & Peterson, J. A. (1982). Psychosocial aspects affecting adaptation to bereavement in the elderly. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 14, 79-94.
24. Gallagher-Thompson, D., Futterman, A., Farberow, N., Thompson, L. W., & Peterson, J. (1993). The impact of spousal bereavement on older widows and widowers. In M. S. Stroebe, W. Stroebe, & R. O. Hansson (Eds.), Handbook of bereavement: Theory, research, and intervention (pp. 227-239). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
25. Gass, K. A., & Chang, A. S. (1989). Appraisals of bereavement, coping, resources, and psychological health dysfunction in widows and widowers. Nursing Research, 38, 31-36.
26. Greene, R. W., & Feld, S. (1989). Social support coverage and the well-being of elderly widows and married women. Journal of Family Issues, 10, 33-51.
27. Hansson, R. O., & Hayslip, B., Jr. (2000). Widowhood in later life. In J. H. Harvey & E. D. Miller (Eds.), Loss and trauma: General and close relationship perspectives (pp. 345-357). Philadelphia: Brunner-Routledge.
28. Hodgkinson, P. E. (1984). Abnormal grief and its therapy. Psychotherapeia and Psychiatry in Practice, 33, 22-31.
29. Holmes, T., & Rahe, R. (1967). The Social Readjustment Scale. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 11, 213-218.
30. Hunter, M. (1979). Reaction to conquest: Effects of contact with Europeans on the Pondo of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: David Philip.
31. Jali, N. M. (2000). The African perception of death, with special reference to the Zulu: A critical analysis. Unpublished master's thesis, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
32. Johnson, J. G., Zhang, B., & Prigerson, H. G. (2008). Investigation of a developmental model of risk for depression and suicidality following spousal bereavement. Suicide and Life-Threatening behavior, 38 1-12.
33. Kalu, W. (1990). Bereavement and stress in career women. Women and Therapy, 10, 75-87.
34. Kuckertz, H. (1990). Creating order: The image of the homestead in Mpondo social life. Johannesburg, South Africa: Witwatersrand University Press.
35. Lazarus, R. S. (1981). The costs and benefits of denial. In B. S. Dohrenwend & B. P. Dohrenwend (Eds.), Stressful life events and their contexts (pp. 131-156). New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
36. Lazarus, R. S. (1991). Emotion and adaptation. New York: Oxford University Press.
37. Lindstrøm, T. C. (1995). Anxiety and adaptation in bereavement. Anxiety, Stress and Coping: An International Journal, 8, 251-261.
38. Lindstrøm, T. C. (1997). Immunity and health after bereavement in relation to coping. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 38, 253-259.
39. Lopata, H.Z. (1996). Current widowhood: Myths and realities. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
40. Manyedi, M. E. (2001). Experiences of widowhood and beliefs about the mourning process of the Batswana people. Unpublished master's thesis, Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education, Potchefstroom, South Africa.
41. Morgan, L. A. (1984). Changes in family interaction following widowhood. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 46, 323-331.
42. Ptacek, J. T., Smith, R. E., & Zanas, J. (1992). Gender, appraisal, and coping: A longitudinal analysis. Journal of Personality, 60, 747-770.
43. Richardson, V. E., & Balaswamy, S. (2001). Coping with bereavement among elderly widowers. Omega, 43, 129-144.
44. Rook, K. S. (1984). The negative side of social interaction: Impact on psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46, 1097-1108.
45. Rosenblatt, P. C., & Nkosi, B. C. (2007). South African Zulu widows in a time of poverty and social change. Death Studies, 31, 67-85.
46. Sable, P. (1988). Anxiety, attachment, and loss of a husband. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 59, 550-556.
47. Sable, P. (1991). Attachment, loss of spouse, and grief in elderly adults. Journal of Death and Dying, 23, 129-142.
48. Shutte, A. (2001). Ubuntu: An ethic for a new South Africa. Pietermaritzburg, South Africa: Cluster Publications.
49. Somhlaba, N. Z. (2006). Stress and coping in recent conjugally bereaved rural Black spouses. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Stellenbosch, Stellen bosch, South Africa.
50. Somhlaba, N.Z., & Wait, J.W. (2008). Psychological adjustment to conjugal bereavement: Do social networks aid coping following spousal death?. Omega, 57, 341-366.
51. Sossou, M.-A. (2002). Widowhood practices in West Africa: The silent victims. International Journal of Social Welfare, 11, 201-209.
52. Spangenberg, J. J., & Henderson, M. (2001). Stress and coping in Black South African adolescents. Studia Psychologica, 43, 77-90.
53. Spangenberg, J. J., & Somhlaba, N. Z. (2003). Stress and coping strategies in recently widowed rural Black South African women. Paper presented at the 8th European Congress of Psychology, Vienna, Austria.
54. Steele, G., & Edwards, D. (2002). The development and validation of the Xhosa translations of the Beck Depression Inventory, the Beck Anxiety Inventory and the Beck Hopelessness Scale. Paper presented at the 8th South African Psychology Congress, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa.
55. Stein, J. (1996). Coping with HIV infection: The theory and the practice. African Anthropology, 3, 68-85.
56. Stroebe, W., Stroebe, M. S., & Domittner, G. (1988). Individual and situational differences in recovery from bereavement: A risk group identified. Journal of Social Issues, 44, 143-158.
57. Stroebe, W., Stroebe, M. S., & Hansson, R. O. (1993). Bereavement research and theory: An introduction to the handbook. In M. S. Stroebe, W. Stroebe, & R. O. Hansson (Eds.), Handbook of bereavement: Theory, research, and intervention (pp. 3-9). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
58. Talbott, M. M. (1990). The negative side of the relationship between older widows and their adult children: The mother's perspective. The Gerontologist, 30, 596-603.
59. Telschow, M. (2003). Townships and the spirit of Ubuntu. Cape Town, South Africa: Clifton.
60. Van Baarsen, B., Van Duijn, M. A. J., Smit, J. H., Snijders, T. A. B., & Knipscheer, K. P. M. (2002). Patterns of adjustment to partner loss in old age: The widowhood Adaptation Longitudinal Study. Omega, 44, 5-36.
61. Watson, D., & Hubbard, B. (1996). Adaptational style and dispositional structure: Coping in the context of the five-factor model. Journal of Personality, 64, 737-774.
62. Zick, C. D., & Smith, K. R. (1988). Recent widowhood, remarriage, and changes in economic well-being. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 50, 233-244.
63. Zisook, S. (1993). Major depression associated with widowhood. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 1, 316-326.
64. Zisook, S., Mulvihill, M., & Shuchter, S. R. (1990). Widowhood and anxiety. Psychological Medicine, 8, 425-430.
65. Zisook, S., & Shuchter, S. R. (1991). Depression through the first year after the death of a spouse. American Journal of Psychiatry, 148, 1346-1352.