Hostname: page-component-7dd5485656-glrdx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-10-30T22:14:00.490Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Towards a Cognitive-Behavioural Intervention for Adult Grief Reactions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

D. J. Kavanagh
D. J. Kavanagh*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Badham Clinic, Building A16, University of Sydney 2006, Australia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Published accounts of behavioural interventions for grief have relied on exposure and habituation to grief cues as the primary strategy. Such an approach is excessively narrow, since it does not adequately confront the challenges that are posed by a bereavement. Many people cope with a bereavement by themselves, and for those, intervention may well be counterproductive. A cognitive-behavioural intervention, following models for depression/anxiety, can assist vulnerable individuals obtain a more rapid or complete adjustment.

Information

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 157 , Issue 3 , September 1990 , pp. 373 - 383
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1990 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Abramson, L. Y., Seligman, M. E. P. & Teasdale, J. D. (1978) Learned helplessness in humans: critique and reformulation. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 87, 49–74.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
American Psychiatric Association (1967) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edn, revised) (DSM–III–R). Washington, DC: APA.Google Scholar
Averill, J. R. (1968) Grief: its nature and significance. Psychological Bulletin, 70, 721–748.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Babor, T. F., Kranzler, H. R. & Lauerman, R. J. (1987) Social drinking as a health and psychosocial risk factor: Anstie's limit revisited. In Recent Developments in Alcoholism, vol. 5 (ed. M. Galanter). New York: Plenum.Google Scholar
Bandura, A. (1977) Self-efficacy: toward a unifying theory of behavioural change. Psychological Review, 84, 191–215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bandura, A. (1986) Social Foundations of Thought and Action. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Bebbington, P. (1986) Establishing causal links – recent controversies in Life Events and Psychiatric Disorders: Controversial Issues (ed. H. Katschnig), pp. 188–200. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Beck, A. T., Rush, A. J., Shaw, B. F., et al (1979) Cognitive Therapy of Depression. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Blaney, P. H. (1981) The effectiveness of cognitive and behavioral therapies. In Behavior Therapy for Depression: Present Status and Future Directions (ed. L. P. Rehm). New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Blaney, P. H. (1986) Affect and memory: a review. Psychological Bulletin, 99, 229–246.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bernstein, D. A. & Borkovec, T. D. (1973) Progressive Muscular Relaxation Training. Champaign, Ill: Research Press.Google Scholar
Bornstein, P. E., Clayton, P. J., Haldcas, J. A., et al (1973) The depression of widowhood after thirteen months. British Journal of Psychiatry, 122, 561–566.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bowlby, J. & Parkes, C. M. (1970) Separation and loss. In The Child and his Family: vol. I. The International Yearbook of Child Psychiatry and Allied Professions (eds E. J. Anthony & C. Koupernik), pp. 197–216. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Bower, G. (1981) Mood and memory. American Psychologist, 36, 129–148.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brasted, W. S. & Callahan, E. J. (1984) A behavioral analysis of the grief process. Behavior Therapy, 15, 529–543.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, G. W. & Harris, T. O. (1978) Social Origins of Depression: A Study of Psychiatric Disorder in Women. London: Tavistock.Google Scholar
Brown, G. W. & Harris, T. O. (1986) Establishing causal links: the Bedford College studies of depression. In Life Events and Psychiatric Disorders: Controversial Issues (ed. H. Katschnig), pp. 107–187. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bugen, L. A. (1977) Human grief: a model for prediction and intervention. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 47, 196–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calhoun, L. G., Selby, J. W. & Walton, P. B. (1986) Suicidal death of a spouse: the social perception of the survivor. Omega, 16, 283–288.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carey, R. G. (1977) The widowed: a year later. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 24, 125–131.Google Scholar
Carson, T. P. & Adams, H. E. (1980) Activity valence as a function of mood change. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 89, 368–377.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clark, D. M. & Teasdale, J. D. (1982) Diurnal variation in clinical depression and accessibility of positive and negative experiences. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 91, 87–95.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clayton, P. J., Halikas, A. & Maurice, W. L. (1972) The depression of widowhood. British Journal of Psychiatry, 120, 71–77.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clayton, P. J., Halikas, A. & Maurice, W. L. et al (1973) Anticipatory grief and widowhood. British Journal of Psychiatry, 122, 47–51.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Coates, T. J. & Thoreson, C. E. (1977) How to Sleep Better: A Drug Free Program for Overcoming Insomnia. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Cohen, S. & Wills, T. A. (1985) Stress, social support and the buffering hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 98, 310–357.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Condon, J. T. (1986) Management of established pathological grief reaction after stillbirth. American Journal of Psychiatry, 143, 987–992.Google ScholarPubMed
Cooney, N. L., Baker, L. & Pomerleau, O. F. (1983) Cue exposure for relapse prevention in alcohol treatment. In Advances in Clinical Behavior Therapy (eds R. J. McMahon & K. D. Craig). New York: Brunner/Mazel.Google Scholar
Eisenbruch, M. (1984a) Cross-cultural aspects of bereavement. I: A conceptual framework for comparative analysis. Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry, 8, 283–309.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eisenbruch, M. (1984b) Cross-cultural aspects of bereavement. II: Ethnic and cultural variations in the development of bereavement practices.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Engel, G. L. (1961) Is grief a disease? Psychosomatic Medicine, 23, 18–22.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Frederick, J. F. (1983) The biochemistry of bereavement: possible basis for chemotherapy? Omega, 13, 295.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fulton, R. & Owen, G. (1977) Adjustment to Loss Through Death: A Sociological Analysis. University of Minnesota: Center for Death Education and Research.Google Scholar
Fulton, R. & Gottesman, D. J. (1980) Anticipatory grief: a psychosocial concept revisited. British Journal of Psychiatry, 137, 45–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gauthier, J. & Marshall, W. L. (1977) Grief: a cognitive-behavioral analysis. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 1, 39–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gauthier, J. & Pye, C. (1979) Graduated self-exposure in the management of grief. Behaviour Analysis and Modification, 3, 202–208.Google Scholar
Glick, I. O., Weiss, R. S. & Parkes, C. M. (1974) The First Year of Bereavement. New York: John Wiley.Google Scholar
Goldfried, M. R. & Goldfried, A. P. (1980) Cognitive change methods. In Helping People Change (eds F. H. Kanfer & A. P. Goldstein). New York: Pergamon.Google Scholar
Gotlib, I. H. & Robinson, L. A. (1982) Responses to depressed individuals: discrepancies between self-report and observer-rated behavior. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 91, 231–240.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gove, W. R. (1972) Sex, marital status, and suicide. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 13, 204–213.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heather, N. & Robertson, I. (1983) Controlled Drinking. London: Heath.Google Scholar
Helsing, K. J., Szkio, M. & Comstock, G. W. (1981) Factors associated with mortality after widowhood. American Journal of Public Health, 71, 802–809.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jacobs, S. & Ostfeld, A. (1977) An epidemiological review of the mortality of bereavement. Psychosomatic Medicine, 39, 344–357.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jacobsen, N. S. & Anderson, E. A. (1982) Interpersonal skill and depression in college students: an analysis of the timing of self-disclosures. Behavior Therapy, 13, 271–282.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kanfer, R. & Zeiss, A. M. (1983) Depression, interpersonal standard-setting, and judgments of self-efficacy. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 92, 319–329.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Katschnig, H. (1986) Measuring life stress – a comparison of the checklist and the panel technique. In Life Events and Psychiatric Disorders: Controversial Issues (ed. H. Katschnig), pp. 74–106. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Kavanagh, D. J. (1983) Influence of joy and sadness on efficacy and task selection. (Doctoral dissertation, Stanford University.) Dissertation Abstracts International, 44, 2922B.Google Scholar
Kavanagh, D. J. (1987) Mood, persistence, and success. Australian Journal of Psychology, 39, 307–318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kavanagh, D. J. & Wilson, P. H. (1989) Prediction of outcome with a group version of cognitive therapy for depression. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 27, 333.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kobasa, S. C., Maddi, S. R. & Kahn, S. (1982) Hardiness and health: a prospective study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 42, 168–171.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Koocher, G. P. (1986) Coping with a death from cancer. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 54, 623–631.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Krupnik, J. L. & Horowitz, M. J. (1981) Stress response syndromes: recurrent themes. Archives of General Psychiatry, 38, 428–435.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kubler-Ross, E. (1970) On Death and Dying. London: Tavistock.Google Scholar
Kuiper, N. A. & McCabe, S. B. (1985) The appropriateness of social topics: effects of depression and cognitive vulnerability on self and other judgments. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 9, 371–379.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lazarus, R. S. & Folkman, S. (1984) Stress, Appraisal and Coping. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Lehman, D. R., Ellard, J. & Wortman, C. B. (1986) Social support for the bereaved: recipients' and providers' perspectives on what is helpful. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 54, 438–446.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lehman, D. R., Wortman, C. R. & Williams, A. F. (1987) Long-term effects of losing a spouse or child in a motor vehicle crash. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 218–231.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewinsohn, P. & Libet, J. (1972) Pleasant events, activity schedules, and mood. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 79, 291–295.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewinsohn, P., Mischel, W., Chaplin, W., et al (1980) Social competence and depression: the role of illusory self-perceptions. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 89, 194–202.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lund, D. A., Dimond, M. F., Caserta, M. S., et al (1985) Identifying elderly with coping difficulties after two years of bereavement. Omega, 16, 213–224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lundin, T. (1984) Long-term outcome of bereavement. British Journal of Psychiatry, 145, 424–428.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
MacMahon, B. & Pugh, T. F. (1965) Suicide in the widowed. American Journal of Epidemiology, 81, 23–31.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maddison, D. & Walker, W. L. (1967) Factors affecting the outcome of conjugal bereavement. British Journal of Psychiatry, 113, 1057–1067.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maddison, D. & Viola, A. (1968) The health of widows in the year following bereavement. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 12, 297–306.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marlatt, A. & Gordon, J. R. (1985) Relapse Prevention: Maintenance Strategies in the Treatment of Addictive Behaviours. New York: Guildford.Google Scholar
Martin, H. L., Lawries, J. H. & Wilkinson, A. W. (1968) The family of the fatally burned child. Lancet, i, 628–629.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mawson, D., Marks, I. M., Ramm, L., et al (1981) Guided mourning for morbid grief: a controlled study. British Journal of Psychiatry, 138, 185–193.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McLean, P. D. & Hakstian, A. R. (1979) Clinical depression: comparative efficacy of outpatient treatments. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 47, 818–836.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miller, W. R. & Munoz, R. F. (1982) How to Control Your Drinking. Albuquerque, New Mexico: New Mexico Press.Google Scholar
Mischel, W. (1968) Personality and Assessment. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Mor, V., McHorney, C. & Sherwood, S. (1986) Secondary morbidity among the recently bereaved. American Journal of Psychiatry, 143, 158–163.Google ScholarPubMed
Nixon, J. & Pearn, J. (1977) Emotional sequelae of parents and siblings following the drowning or near-drowning of a child. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 11, 265–268.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Owen, G., Fulton, R. & Markusen, E. (1982) Death at a distance: a study of family survivors. Omega, 13, 191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parkes, C. M. (1965) Bereavement and mental illness. Part 2. A classification of bereavement reactions. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 38, 13–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parkes, C. M. (1970) The first year of bereavement: a longitudinal study of the reaction of London widows to the death of their husbands. Psychiatry, 33, 444–467.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parkes, C. M. (1972) Bereavement. Studies of Grief in Adult Life. London: Tavistock.Google Scholar
Parkes, C. M. (1985) Bereavement. British Journal of Psychiatry, 146, 11–17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Parkes, C. M. & Brown, R. J. (1972) Health after bereavement: a controlled study of young Boston widows and widowers. Psychosomatic Medicine, 34, 449–461.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Parkes, C. M. & Weiss, R. S. (1983) Recovery from Bereavement. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Pennebaker, J. W. & O'Heeron, R. C. (1984) Confiding in others and illness rate among spouses of suicide and accidental death victims. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 93, 473–476.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pennebaker, J. W. & Beall, S. K. (1986) Confronting a traumatic event: toward an understanding of inhibition and disease. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 95, 274–281.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ramsay, R. W. (1977) Behavioural approaches to bereavement. Behavour Research and Therapy, 15, 131–135.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Raphael, B. (1975) The management of pathological grief. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 34, 1450–1454.Google Scholar
Raphael, B. (1977) Preventative intervention with the recently bereaved. Archives of General Psychiatry, 34, 1450–1454.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rosenblatt, P. C., Walsh, R. P. & Jackson, S. A. (1976) Grief and Mourning in Cross-cultural Perspective. New Haven: HRAF Press.Google Scholar
Rynearson, E. K. (1984) Bereavement after homicide: a descriptive study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 141, 1452–1454.Google ScholarPubMed
Sanders, C. M. (1982) Effects of sudden vs. chronic illness death on bereavement outcome. Omega, 13, 227–241.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwartz, N. & Clore, G. L. (1990) How do I feel about it? The informative function of affective states. In Affect, Cognition, and Social Behavior (ed. K. Fielder & J. Forgas), p. 44. Toronto: Hogrefe International.Google Scholar
Shanfield, S. B., Benjamin, A. H. & Swain, B. J. (1984) Parents' reactions to the death of an adult child from cancer. American Journal of Psychiatry, 149, 1092–1094.Google Scholar
Sireling, L., Cohen, D. & Marks, I. (1988) Guided mourning for morbid grief: a replication. Behavior Therapy, 19, 121–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stroebe, W. & Stroebe, M. S. (1987) Bereavement and Health: The Psychological and Physical Consequences of Partner Loss. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, S. (1983) Adjustment to threatening events: a theory of cognitive adaptation. American Psychologist, 38, 1161–1173.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Teasdale, J. D. (1985) Psychological treatments for depression: how do they work? Behaviour Research and Therapy, 23, 157–165.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vachon, M. L. S., Lyall, W. A. L., Lancee, W. J., et al (1980) A controlled study of a self-help intervention for widows. American Journal of Psychiatry, 137, 1380–1384.Google ScholarPubMed
Vachon, M. L. S., Rogers, J., Lyall, A., et al (1982) Predictors and correlates of adaptation to conjugal bereavement. American Journal of Psychiatry, 139, 998–1002.Google ScholarPubMed
Volkan, V. (1972) The linking objects of pathological mourners. Archives of General Psychiatry, 27, 215–221.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wilson, P. H., Goldin, J. C. & Charbonneau-Powis, M. (1983) Comparative efficacy of behavioral and cognitive treatments for depression. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 7, 111–124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Worden, J. W. (1983) Grief Counselling and Grief Therapy. London: Tavistock.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wortman, C. B. & Dunkel-Schetter, C. (1979) Interpersonal relationships and cancer: a theoretical analysis. Journal of Social Issues, 35, 120–155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zeiss, A. M., Lewinsohn, P. M. & Munoz, R. F. (1979) Nonspecific improvement effects in depression using interpersonal skills training, pleasant activity schedules, or cognitive training. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 47, 427–439.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.