Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Date

2021

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Counseling Psychology

Committee Chair

Sara Bridges

Committee Member

Douglas Strohmer

Committee Member

Chrisann Schiro-Geist

Committee Member

Kenneth Sewell

Abstract

Although non-death losses (NDLs) can be recognized as grieveable events, they rarely benefit from the social recognition, support, and empirical examination afforded to death-related bereavement. Disenfranchised losses can result in prolonged grief reactions and lead to increased vulnerability, challenges to meaning making, and confusion. Dynamics related to the global COVID-19 pandemic and political unrest in 2020 have resulted in myriad NDLs for individuals and communities, making the salience of and for fuller understanding of NDLs more important than ever. To this end we examined tangible and intangible loss experiences (e.g. loss of safety, security, respect, housing) associated with NDL events, and factors that predicted grief intensity and personal growth. Results indicate that common predictors within bereavement literature, specifically event centrality, meaning made, and social meaning, are also relevant predictors in models examining grief and personal growth reactions within NDL events. Implications of findings and future directions for this work are discussed.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to ProQuest

Notes

embargoed

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