Continuing bonds in adaptation to bereavement: Toward a theoretical integration

Abstract

There is lack of clarity in the scientific literature concerning the adaptive functions of continuing versus relinquishing bonds to deceased persons. It remains unclear what type of bonds or underlying processes are related to (mal)adaptive bereavement outcomes. Furthermore, empirical research has rarely been theoretically-driven. Thus, the purpose of this article is to outline a theoretical model for predicting the (mal)adaptiveness of continuing-relinquishing bonds. Attachment theory provides a generic framework for understanding patterns of individual differences in the impact of continuing bonds. Within this framework, using bereavement-specific models compatible with attachment theory, (1) ways of coping with the bond to the deceased can be linked to outcome (using the Dual Process Model, Stroebe & Schut, 1999), and (2) related cognitions about the deceased person proposed (drawing on Mental Representations Theory, Boerner & Heckhausen, 2003). This integrative model can be used to systematically examine the relationship between continuing bonds and bereavement adaptation.