The Role of Experiential Avoidance in the Relationship Between Emotional Pain and Yearning in Sudden and Unexpected Bereavement
Abstract
Individuals who have experienced a sudden or unexpected loss of a close family
member or friend are at heightened risk for developing psychiatric morbidity, including
prolonged grief disorder (PGD; i.e., pathological grief). Current models of grief and
bereavement suggest grief experiences become pathological when individuals are unable to
integrate their loss experiences into their post-loss life and continue to experience painful,
persistent grief symptomology six to 12 months after the death. Emotional pain, experiential
avoidance (EA), and yearning have been identified within grief and bereavement literature as
three key features of grief that also prominently manifest in pathological forms of grief.
Yearning has been conceptualized as an emotional state which leads to proximity seeking
behaviors, and emotional pain has been conceptualized as an emotional state which leads to
grief-related avoidance. However, a gap exists in the literature explaining how these
variables may interact and perpetuate one another. The present study aims to reconceptualize
the role of EA in the relationship between emotional pain and yearning and explore
differences in relationship effects at various levels of PGD symptom severity in a sample of
suddenly and unexpectedly bereaved young adults. Findings indicate emotional pain as a
significant predictor of EA, b = 4.29, SE = .44, p < .01, and EA as a significant predictor of
yearning, b = .01, SE = .00, p < .05. Approximately, 11% of the variance in yearning was
accounted for by the predictors. Results indicate the indirect coefficient was significant, b =
.05, SE = .02, 95% CI [.0095, .0942]. Results indicate that yearning associated with
emotional pain may be partially explained by EA. These findings suggest further attention
should be given to understanding additional mechanisms that may influence individuals’
engagement in yearning-related behaviors.
Table of Contents
Introduction -- Methodology -- Results -- Discussion -- Appendix
Degree
M.A. (Master of Arts)