Stress, Coping Styles, and Spousal Bereavement: Exploring Patterns of Grieving Among Black Widowed Spouses in Rural South Africa

Abstract

Abstract This research investigated the stress-coping relationship following spousal bereavement among 198 recently bereaved Black widowed spouses in rural South Africa. Scores on the Coping Strategy Indicator indicated avoidant (5%), problem-solving (58%), and social support seeking (24%) coping strategies; 13% of the participants oscillated between problem-solving and social support seeking coping. No significant correlations emerged between anxiety and coping, and depression was positively correlated with problem-solving coping and social support seeking coping. Implications for intervention are centered on psychoeducating the bereaved, within the sociocultural framework, to foster social ties that promote problem-focused aid. We wish to thank the National Research Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for funding the first author's doctoral dissertation, from which the present article emerged. Also, appreciation goes to Zuhayr Kafaar and Hermann Swart for helping us make sense of the statistics during the revision of this article. Notes Note. BAI = Beck Anxiety Inventory; BDI-II = Beck Depression Inventory–Second Edition. ∗p < .05; ∗∗p < .01. Note. F(3, 194) = 5.2584, R = .2742, R 2 = .752, adjusted R 2 = .608, SE = 12.0984. ∗p < .05; ∗∗p < .01. Permission to use the Xhosa-language versions of both the BDI-II and the BAI (the XBDI-II and XBAI, respectively) was granted by Gary Steele and David J. A. Edwards, authors and developers of the XBDI-II and XBAI (Steele & Edwards, Citation2002). Additional informationNotes on contributorsNceba Z. Somhlaba Nceba Z. Somhlaba is a lecturer in the Department of Psychology, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, having been professionally trained as a clinical psychologist at the same department between 2000 and 2002. His interest in the area of grief and loss in the South African context saw him embark on a master's thesis and subsequently a doctoral dissertation, both focusing on the grief reactions of rural widowed South African Black spouses. During his tenure as a postdoctoral research fellow, his research scope was the impact of rural-urban migration on grieving and loss among recently widowed individuals in peri-urban areas of the Western Cape province of South Africa. John W. Wait John W. Wait had been teaching, until his retirement as a senior lecturer in March 2008, in the Department of Psychology, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, for over 25 years. He also has been working in private practice as a clinical psychologist for more than 30 years. His interest in clinical child psychology has expanded his scope of and exposure to child psychology to the grieving patterns of children and their families.