Religion and Spirituality in the Meaning–Making and Coping Experiences of African American Women: A Qualitative Analysis

This qualitative study examines the ways in which African American women use religion/spirituality to cope and to construct meaning in times of adversity. Content analysis of the narratives of a sample of African American women respondents ( n = 23) revealed a set of eight nonoverlapping themes that explicate religiosity/spirituality's role in meaning–making and coping. Findings suggest that religion/spirituality help women to (1) interrogate and accept reality, (2) gain the insight and courage needed to engage in spiritual surrender, (3) confront and transcend limitations, (4) identify and grapple with existential questions and life lessons, (5) recognize purpose and destiny, (6) define character and act within subjectively meaningful moral principles, (7) achieve growth, and (8) trust in the viability of transcendent sources of knowledge and communication. Narrative examples are used to elucidate each theme. Findings point to the importance of relationships and intimacy in the meaning–making enterprise. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

Development of the Grief Experience Questionnaire

The development of the Grief Experience Questionnaire (GEQ) is reported. This questionnaire is an instrument for measuring various components of grief, including somatic reactions, general grief reactions, search for explanation, loss of social support, stigmatization, guilt, responsibility, shame, rejection, self-destructive behavior, and reactions to a unique form of death. Initial results with the GEQ suggest its potential to differentiate grief reactions experienced by suicide survivors from those experienced by survivors of accidental death, unexpected natural death, and expected natural death. Conclusions support its use in redressing common methodological criticisms of suicide survivor research. Six additional benefits derived from use of this instrument are discussed.     

Multidimensional Future Time Perspective as Moderators of the Relationships between Suicide Motivation,Preparation, and Its Predictors

The moderating impact of future time perspective (FTP) components on the relationships of hopelessness, depressive symptoms, and psychache with suicide motivation and preparation was investigated. In a sample of first year college students (N = 87) recruited on the basis of elevated suicide ideation and depressive symptoms, future thinking, optimism, and future connectedness attenuated the relationship of suicide motivation with depressive symptoms and hopelessness. Future thinking moderated the impact of depressive symptoms on suicide preparation. No moderating effects were found for psychache. This study demonstrates that FTP may buffer against the worst effects of salient suicide predictors among high‐risk students.