The dual process model of coping with bereavement: Rationale and description

There are shortcomings in traditional theorizing about effective ways of co ping with bereavement, most notably, with respect to the so-called "grief w ork hypothesis." Criticisms include imprecise definition,failure to represe nt dynamic Processing that is characteristic of grieving, lack of empirical evidence and validation across cultures and historical periods, and a limi ted focus on intrapersonal processes and on health outcomes. Therefore, a r evised model of coping with bereavement, the dual process model, is propose d this model identifies two types of stressors, loss- and restoration-orien ted, and a dynamic, regulatory coping process of oscillation, whereby the g rieving individual at times confronts, at other times avoids, the different tasks of grieving. This model proposes that adaptive coping is composed of confrontation - avoidance of loss and restoration stressors. It also argue s the need for dosage of grieving, that is, the need to take respite from d ealing with either of these stressors, as an integral part of adaptive copi ng. Empirical research to support this conceptualization is discussed, and the model's relevance to the examination of complicated grief, analysis of subgroup phenomena, as well as interpersonal coping processes, is described .