Family members have been observed to cope with the losses inherent in terminal illness by grieving. Little is known, however, about the factors which influence their grieving before the death of a significant other. This paper describes an exploratory, cross-sectional, correlational study designed to examine the relationships among general coping style, hope, and anticipatory grief in a convenience sample of 61 family members of individuals with terminal cancer. The organizing framework for this study was based on grief theory, Lazarus and Folkman's (1984) theory of stress and coping, and Davies, Reimer, and Martens' (1990) transition framework. Data were collected by a four-part questionnaire comprising the Jalowiec Coping Scale (Jalowiec, 1987), the Herth Hope Index (Herth, 1991), the Non-Death Version of the Grief Experience Inventory (Sanders, Mauger, & Strong, 1985), and a background information sheet developed by the researcher. Findings revealed that family members experienced individual anticipatory grief patterns. Women experienced more despair and anger/hostility than men. Adult children, more highly educated family members, individuals not living with the ill person, and non-primary caregivers expressed more anger/hostility. Multiple regression results showed that emotive coping and hope accounted for significant proportions of the variance in despair, somatization, and loss of control. Emotive coping contributed significant variation in anger/hostility, whereas lack of hope accounted for a significant amount of the variation in social isolation. Neither the general coping styles nor hope significantly predicted death anxiety. Suggestions for research and nursing were indicated.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.22724 |
| Date | January 1995 |
| Creators | Chapman, Kimberly J. (Kimberly Jane) |
| Contributors | Pepler, C. (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (School of Nursing.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001441023, proquestno: MM05538, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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