The Two-track Model of Bereavement suggests that response to loss can be more effectively assessed when both the behavioral-psychological functioning and the internalized relationship to the deceased are considered [1–4]. Research based on this paradigm examined the experiences of 102 Israeli parents bereaved of sons four and thirteen earlier and a comparison group of seventy-three non-bereaved parents. All parents completed measures of functioning, anxiety, evaluation of self and son, written description of the son, and measures of the current life situation. Results indicated that the bereaved parents manifested difficulties in functioning and in their covert relationship to the deceased son. Differences between and within the bereaved groups by time and sex are considered. Regression documented an association between functioning and relationship to the deceased, and lent support to the assumptions underlying the Two-track Model of Bereavement. This discussion addresses the course of bereavement for adult sons with some implications for bereavement research and intervention.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
RubinS., A Two-Track Model of Bereavement: Theory and Application in Research, American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 51, pp. 101–109, 1981.
2.
RubinS., Persisting Effects of Loss: A Model of Mourning, in Stress and AnxietyVolume 8, SpielbergerC. and SarasonI. (eds.), MilgramN. (guest ed.), Hemisphere Publishing Co., Washington, D.C., 1982.
3.
RubinS., Mourning Distinct from Melancholia, British Journal of Medical Psychology, 57, pp. 339–345, 1984.
4.
RubinS., Maternal Attachment and Child Death: On Adjustment, Relationship and Resolution, Omega, 15:4, pp. 347–352, 1984.
5.
OsterweisM.SolomonF., and GreenM., (eds), Bereavement: Reactions, Consequences and Care, Institute of Medicine, Washington, D.C., 1984.
6.
GorerG., Death, Grief and Mourning in Contemporary Britain, Tavistock, London, 1965.
7.
RubinS., Child Death and the Family: Parents and Children Confronting Loss, International Journal of Family Therapy, 7, pp. 377–388, 1986.
8.
RubinS. and NassarH. Z., Psychotherapy and Supervision with a Bereaved Moslem Family: An Intervention that Almost Failed, manuscript submitted for publication.
9.
WalshF. and McGoldrickM., Loss and the Family Life Cycle, in Family Transitions, FalikovC. (ed.), Guilford, New York, pp. 311–336, 1988.
10.
KlassD., Parental Grief: Solace & Resolution, Springer, New York, 1988.
11.
RaphaelB., The Anatomy of Bereavement, Basic Books, New York, 1983.
12.
RandoT., An Investigation of Grief and Adaptation in Parents whose Children Have Died from Cancer, Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 8:1, pp. 3–20, 1983.
13.
Videka-ShermanL., Coping with the Death of a Child: A Study over Time, American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 2:4, pp. 688–699, 1982.
14.
Videka-ShermanL. and LiebermanM., The Effects of Self-Help and the Psychotherapy Intervention on Child Loss: The Limits of Recovery, American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 55:1, pp. 70–82, 1985.
15.
LehmanD. R.WortmanC. B., and WilliamsA. F., Long-term Effects of Losing a Spouse or Child in a Motor Vehicle Crash, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52:1, pp. 218–231, 1987.
16.
LehmanD. R.LangE. L.WortmanC. B., and SorensonS. B., Long-term Effects of Sudden Bereavement: Marital and Parent-Child Relationships and Children's Reactions, Journal of Family Psychology, 2:3, pp. 344–367, 1989.
17.
BowlbyJ., Attachment and Loss: Vol. 3 Loss, Hogarth, London, 1980.
18.
FreudS.Mourning and Melancholia, Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Hogarth Press, London, 1957.
19.
ParkesC. M., Bereavement: Studies of Grief in Adult Life, International Universities Press, New York, 1972.
20.
RubinS., Death of the Future: An Outcome Study of Bereaved Parents in Israel, Omega, 20:4, pp. 323–339, 1990.
21.
RubinS., Treating the Bereaved Spouse: A Focus on the Loss Process, the Self and the Other, The Psychotherapy Patient, 6:4, pp. 189–205, 1990.
22.
VolkanV. D., Linking Objects and Linking Phenomena, International Universities Press, New York, 1981.
23.
BowlbyJ., Attachment and Loss: Vol. 1 Attachment, Hogarth, London, 1969.
24.
BowlbyJ., The Making and Breaking of Affectional Bonds, I. Aetiology and Psychopathology in the Light of Attachment Theory, British Journal of Psychiatry, 130, pp. 201–210, 1977.
25.
GayM., The Adjustment of Parents to Wartime Bereavement, in Psychological Research in Rehabilitation: Studies in the Rehabilitation of Disabled Veterans and Bereavement in IsraelLahavE. (ed.), Ministry of Defense Publishing House, Jerusalem, 1982.
26.
MilgramN. A., War Related Stress in Israeli Children and Youth, in Handbook of Stress, GoldbergerL. and BreznitzS. (eds.), The Free Press, New York, 1982.
27.
PalgiP., The Socio-cultural Expressions and Implications of Death, Mourning and Bereavement Arising Out of the War Situation in Israel, Israel Annals of Psychiatry, 11, pp. 301–329, 1973.
28.
RubinS., The Long-term Adaptation of Parents Bereaved by War, unpublished research report submitted to the Department of Rehabilitation, Ministry of Defense, State of Israel, 1987.
29.
SandersC. M.MaugerP. A., and StrongP. N., A Manual for the Grief Experience Inventory, 1979.
30.
SpielbergerC. D.GorsuchB. C., and LusheneR. E., STAI Manual, Consulting Psychologists Press, Palo-Alto, California, 1970.
31.
OsgoodE. F.SuciG., and TannenbaumP., The Measurement of Meaning, University of Illinois Press, Urbana, 1957.
32.
BlattS. J.WeinS. J.ChevronE., and QuinlanD. M., Parental Representation and Depression in Normal Young Adults, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 88:4, pp. 388–397, 1979.
33.
BlattS.ChevronE. S.QuinlanD. M., and WeinS., The Assessment of Qualitative and Structural Dimensions of Object Representations, Yale University, New Haven, 1981.
34.
SadehA., Object Relationship, Object Representation and Depression in Israeli College Students, unpublished Masters' thesis, University of Haifa, Israel, 1987.
35.
TamirG., Functioning and Attachment in War Bereaved Israeli Parents, unpublished Masters thesis, University of Haifa, Israel, 1987.
36.
Caspi-YavinY., Coping and Outcome in War Bereaved Israeli Parents, unpublished Masters thesis, University of Haifa, Israel, 1988.
37.
BrownG. W. and HarrisT., Social Origins of Depression, Tavistock, London, 1978.
38.
ClaytonP. J. and DarvishH. S., Course of Depressive Symptoms Following the Stress of Bereavement, in Stress and Mental Disorder, BarrettJ.RoseR. M., and KlermanG. L. (eds.), Raven Press, New York, 1979.
39.
CrispA. H. and PriestR. G., Psychoneurotic Status during the Year Following Bereavement, Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine, 16, pp. 351–355, 1972.
40.
ParkesC. M., Bereavement and Mental Illness, British Journal of Medical Psychology, 38, pp. 388–397, 1965.
41.
PittsF. N.Jr.MeyerJ.BrooksM., and WinokurG., Adult Psychiatric Illness Assessed for Childhood Parental Loss and Psychiatric Illness in Family Members, American Journal of Psychiatry, 121, pp. i–x (supplement), 1965.
42.
ParkesC. M. and WeissR., Recovery from Bereavement, Basic Books, New York, 1983.
43.
WortmanC. M. and SilverR. C., Coping with Irrevocable Loss, in Cataclysms, Crises and Catastrophes, VandenBosG. and BryantB. K. (eds.), American Psychological Association, Washington, D.C., 1987.
44.
StroebeW. and StroebeM. S., Bereavement and Health: The Psychological and Physical Consequences of Partner Loss, Cambridge University Press, New York, 1987.
45.
RadloffL., Sex Differences in Depression: The Effect of Occupation and Marital Status, Sex Roles, 1, pp. 249–265, 1975.
46.
StroebeM. S. and StroebeW., Who Suffers More? Sex Differences in Health Risks of the Widowed, Psychological Bulletin, 93, pp. 279–301, 1983.
47.
LopataH. Z., Widowhood and Husband Sanctification, Journal of Marriage and the Family, pp. 439–450, 1981.
48.
RubinS., The Resolution of Bereavement: A Clinical Focus on the Relationship to the Deceased, Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Training and Practice, 22:2, pp. 231–235, 1985.
49.
DichtermanD., Personality and Interpersonal History and Their Relationship to Long-term Outcome to Child Loss in Israel, unpublished Masters thesis, University of Haifa, Israel, 1989.
50.
LindemannE., Symptomatology and Management of Acute Grief, American Journal of Psychiatry, 101, pp. 141–148, 1944.
