RELATIONSHIP OF HOPE, COPING STYLES, CONCURRENT LOSSES, AND SETTING TO GRIEF RESOLUTION IN THE ELDERLY WIDOW(ER)

This descriptive study was based on Dimond's Bereavement Adaptation Model; investigation was made of the relationship between hope, concurrent losses, coping style, setting (hospital, hospice, nursing home), and grief resolution. Seventy‐five elderly persons who had been widowed 12–18 months completed the Herth Hope Scale, the Jalowiec Coping Scale, and the Grief Resolution Index by mail. A significant positive relationship was found between effective grief resolution and a high hope level; 0–1 concurrent losses; the use of confrontive, optimistic, palliative, supportant, and self‐reliant coping styles; and the death of the spouse within a hospice setting. The importance of the type of setting, hope level, and specific coping styles on grief resolution in the elderly widow(er) is suggested by the findings. Copyright © 1990 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company