Abstract:
Most people deal with a death loss without needing clinical help. However, researchers
agree that for about 10-12% of individuals who experience a death loss, grief symptoms become
chronic, and more severe. Chronic, severe grief symptoms are otherwise known as complicated
grief. Military service members experience a myriad of factors that likely increase their risk of
developing complicated grief, yet few studies have examined grief within military populations.
The aim of the current study was to address the lack of grief research in the military psychology
literature and provide practitioners who treat military service members with a deeper
understanding of the role of meaning in the development of complicated grief, using attachment
theory and meaning making model as a guide. It was hypothesized that insecure attachment and
perceived closeness would be positively associated with complicated grief, meanings made
would be negatively associated with complicated grief, meanings made would mediate the
relationship between insecure attachment and complicated grief, and that meanings made would
mediate the relationship between perceived closeness and complicated grief. Two hundred
thirty-eight military service members were surveyed and data were analyzed using path analysis.
Results suggested insecure attachment and closeness were positively associated with complicated
grief and meanings made were negatively associated with complicated grief. Mediation was
supported. Implications for theory, research and practice are discussed.
