Department of Communication, SUNY Brockport.
Communication Studies, University of South Dakota.
Health Commun. 2022 Apr;37(4):498-507. doi: 10.1080/10410236.2020.1853328. Epub 2020 Nov 24.
Communicating in the wake of family death is complicated. Family members can vary in their expectations for support, their understandings of appropriate topics, and their approaches to coping. Using data collected from 172 individuals who experienced a family death in the last five years, this study explored family communication about loss with an eye toward identifying connections between specific communicative moments and reports of grief and adjustment. Framed within the theory of memorable messages (ToMM), five distinct memorable message types were identified and findings revealed that the type of message a bereaved individual received had direct implications for their reported amount of grief and adjustment. Messages centered on justifying or explaining the death were linked to greater grief, as compared to those that offered advice, shared a memory, or provided a sense of availability. Moderation analyses revealed that attendance to religious service impacted the relationship between message type and reports of grief and adjustment, particularly for rationale-based messages, which were more positively received by participants who attended religious service regularly. This piece supports the ToMM and extends knowledge of family communication about death, ultimately providing solace to those struggling to find the appropriate words to say to a grieving loved one.
在经历丧亲之痛后进行沟通是复杂的。家庭成员在支持期望、对适当话题的理解以及应对方式上可能存在差异。本研究利用过去五年中经历过家庭死亡的 172 个人收集的数据，探讨了家庭关于丧失的沟通问题，以期确定特定沟通时刻与悲伤和适应报告之间的联系。基于可记忆信息理论（ToMM），确定了五种不同的可记忆信息类型，研究结果表明，丧亲者收到的信息类型直接影响他们报告的悲伤和适应程度。以证明或解释死亡为中心的信息与更大的悲伤有关，而提供建议、分享记忆或提供可用性的信息则与之相反。调节分析表明，参加宗教仪式会影响信息类型与悲伤和适应报告之间的关系，特别是对于基于理由的信息，对于定期参加宗教仪式的参与者来说，这类信息更受欢迎。这一研究支持了 ToMM，并扩展了关于家庭死亡沟通的知识，最终为那些努力寻找适当的话语来安慰悲伤的亲人的人提供了安慰。
