(The) development and validation of the meaning-making scale in grief

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The purpose of the current study was to develop and validate the meaning-making scale in grief based on the theory of meaning and two models in regard to the meaning-making process in grief (the meaning-making model and the meaning reconstruction model). The meaning-making scale in grief was composed of the following three components with 21 items: Meaning of the significant other, being present, and coping and growth.
A total of three studies were conducted to develop and validate the scale. In Step 1, the participants who lost their loved ones through death wrote responses on the open-ended questionnaire regarding a meaning-making process in grief. The initial 80 items of the new scale were developed based on their responses. In Step 2, the exploratory factor analysis was conducted with the initial items of the scale to finalize the components of the scale and select the final items. In Step 3, the confirmatory factor analysis and correlation analysis with the following scales were conducted to select the final items: The Meaning-making Scale, the Meaning in Life Questionnaire, Purpose in Life Test, the Brief COPE inventory, and the Texas Inventory of Grief - Revised.
The current developed scale consisted of three components, and the definitions of three components of the current scale were as follows. The first component of the current scale, meaning of the significant other, was defined as a degree of the meaning-making process towards the deceased significant other. The second component of the current scale, being present, was defined as a degree that individuals focus on being present and mindful. The third component of the current scale, coping and growth, was defined as a degree that individuals cope with the loss and gained personal growth after the experience of the loss.
The current study was subject to several limitations. First, the use of a homogenous sample may result in a lack of generalizability. Second, the current scale may not include some of the meaning-making components that other grieving individuals experience because meaning-making is a unique personal experience built with a self-narrative approach.
Despite these limitations, the current study has both empirical and clinical implications. First, the current study provided the psychometric measure of the meaning-making scale in grief. Second, the development of the current scale would enable future researchers to expand and advance their research designs. Third, the current study would increase the awareness of the importance of meaning-making in grief, which brings an opportunity to use meaning-making as an active coping strategy in a dynamic progress of grief. Fourth, the results of the current study clarified the main components of the meaning-making in grief. Fifth, mental health professionals can utilize the current scale to assess levels of meaning-making of grieving individuals and to use meaning-making as an intervention in grief therapy.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• Abstract
• I. Introduction
• II. Theoretical Backgrounds
• 1. Grief theories and models
• 2. Grieving and meaning
• 3. Meaning and meaning-making
• 4. The meaning-making model
• 5. The meaning reconstruction model
• 6. Limitations of previous measurements of meaning-making in grief
• 7. Common components of meaning-making in grief
• III. Operational definitions
• IV. Purpose of the study
• V. Step 1: Scale development
• 1. Participants
• 2. Measures
• 3. Procedures
• 4. Results
• VI. Step 2: Exploratory factor analysis (EFA)
• 1. Participants
• 2. Procedures
• 3. Data Analysis
• 4. Results
• VII. Step 3: Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA)
• 1. Participants
• 2. Measures
• 3. Procedures
• 4. Data Analysis
• 5. Results
• 6. Convergent Validity
• VIII. Discussion
• References
• Korean Abstract
• Appendices