Personal reminiscence styles and adaptation to bereavement: how meaning mediates their relationship

Abstract

Objectives: Personal reminiscence styles are known to influence a person’s well-being, but research regarding their impact on bereavement outcomes is limited. Based on previous findings, we assumed ruminative and reflective reminiscence styles to be associated with feelings of grief and personal growth, and that meaning-making efforts and the degree of having meaning-made of losing a loved one potentially mediate these relationships. Methods: The final study sample consisted of 198 participants aged between18 and 75 years (Mage = 40.58, SD = 39.0), 83.3% were female. In a first step, we ran separate mediation models to examine the associations between reminiscence styles, processes of making meaning of the loss and bereavement. Based on these results, we build a parsimonious, inclusive pathway model. Results: Our findings indicate that a ruminative reminiscence style is related to feelings of grief and personal growth through its associations with meaning-made. A reflective reminiscence style, in contrast, is associated with feelings of grief through its relation to meaning-making efforts. Moreover, a reflective reminiscence style is directly related to personal growth. Conclusion: Findings are discussed regarding their implications for both areas of research — autobiographical remembering and adaptation to bereavement, as well as their applicability in clinical settings.