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The agents of deterioration (AoD) offer a structured categorization of hazards to collections: they are a basis for risk-informed preservation management. In drawing up the AoD their creators were not ignorant of wider societal issues of concern to conservators, but they envisaged them to be part of a broader institutional activity located beyond the scope of preventive conservation. Within conservation, there have been discussions about additional agents: social, cultural, or political causes of loss. Their continued exclusion from the AoD may mistakenly be interpreted as a lack of consideration of such concerns. There are reasons to limit the scope of an institution's preventive conservation system but not everyone agrees that those reasons are sufficient to justify this limitation. This paper is a discussion and disagreement by two authors. Henderson argues that dissociation should capture any loss of meaning resulting from any aspect of conservation practice, including cleaning, documentation, failure to respect beliefs, etc. She argues that dissociation from context may stop preventive conservators from identifying and respecting optimal traditional sustainable methods and techniques. Waller argues that the threat of losing context information about collection items should be managed as part of the wider cultural heritage institution's role and resolved through its engagement with the community. He acknowledges that preventive conservation can contribute to understanding and mitigating this form of loss, but advocates that primary responsibility must be situated at a higher level than the preventive conservation remit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Losing a family member during childhood is a potentially traumatic event and increases the risk of mental health difficulties. Adolescents have the right to express their views in research of relevance to them, but few studies have involved bereaved adolescents as collaborators (i.e. Patient and Public Involvement (PPI)). Furthermore, to ensure meaningful and non-tokenistic involvement, bereaved adolescents’ levels of participation and experiences of taking part in research need to be evaluated. Objectives: The aim was to describe and evaluate a PPI process working with bereaved adolescents to develop a self-management mobile app for adolescents in grief. Methods: The PPI process consisted of four workshops during which the app’s logo, colours, name, content, and layout were discussed with six parentally bereaved adolescents aged 13–18 years. The adolescents were recruited through a non-profit organisation providing support for adolescents in grief. The PPI process was documented and evaluated using participant observations and an online survey completed by the adolescents, covering the themes of social context, participation, and influence. Results: The adolescents perceived the social context as comfortable and inclusive, where their knowledge was valued. Their participation was characterised by ownership and motivated by a desire to help others with similar experiences. The adolescents’ ability to participate in PPI activities was assisted by the researchers’ flexibility, although challenging assignments may have made participation harder. Throughout PPI activities, adolescents contributed with relevant input and reported feeling influential. The study reached the intended levels of participation and appeared to adequately fulfil the adolescents’ right to participation. Conclusions: Engaging adolescents who have undergone a potentially traumatic event, such as the loss of a family member, in research can enhance the overall relevance of the study. Moreover, it can entail a meaningful and positive experience for the participating adolescents, while also fulfilling their fundamental right to participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Social acknowledgment is a protective factor for survivors of trauma. However, the role of social acknowledgment in association with prolonged grief symptoms has not yet been established. Objectives: The current study aims to explore the relationship between social acknowledgment and prolonged grief via two beliefs foundational to how people think about grief-related emotions (1) goodness (i.e. whether emotions are desirable, useful, or unwanted and harmful), and (2) controllability (i.e. whether emotions are regulated according to our will or involuntary, arising of their own accord). These effects were explored in two different cultural samples of bereaved people. Methods: One hundred and fifty-four German-speaking and two hundred and sixty-two Chinese bereaved people who lost their loved ones completed questionnaires assessing social acknowledgment, beliefs about the goodness and controllability of grief-related emotions, and prolonged grief symptoms. Results: Correlation analyses showed that social acknowledgment was positively linked with stronger beliefs about the goodness and controllability of grief-related emotions and negatively related to prolonged grief symptoms. Beliefs about the goodness and controllability of grief-related emotions correlated negatively with prolonged grief symptoms. Multiple mediation analyses suggested that beliefs about the controllability and goodness of grief-related emotions mediated the link between social acknowledgment and prolonged grief symptoms. Cultural groups did not moderate the above model. Conclusion: Social acknowledgment may be related to bereavement adjustment consequences via the roles of beliefs about the goodness and controllability of grief-related emotions. These effects seem to be consistent cross-culturally. Social acknowledgment correlated positively with stronger beliefs about the goodness and controllability of grief-related emotions and negatively with prolonged grief symptoms. Beliefs about the goodness and controllability of grief-related emotions were negatively linked with prolonged grief symptoms. Beliefs about the controllability and goodness of grief-related emotions mediated the relationship between social acknowledgment and prolonged grief symptoms. The model presented cross-cultural consistency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this pilot study was to adapt and provide preliminary data of the efficacy of an intervention aimed at family caregivers of adults with intellectual disability to provide them with different coping resources to better cope with their role as caregivers, as well as to reduce the psychological overload and pain associated with the diagnosis. A total of 24 caregivers participated, of which 14 were assigned to an intervention group (IG) and 10 to a control group (CG) through simple randomization. Variables of overload, mental health and feelings of grief produced by the diagnosis were measured. Linear models for repeated measures were used to evaluate the effect of the program. After the intervention, significant differences (p< .5) were found in the dimensions of emotional pain, relational loss and acceptance of loss, and feelings of grief brought on by the diagnosis. In conclusion, it is necessary that this type of program be given early to these caregivers in order to avoid the pathological and chronic grief into which they frequently end up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Caring for people with dementia generates stress among family caregivers. One of these stressor events is ambiguous loss. Objectives: To translate, adapt, and validate the Boundary Ambiguity Scale (BAS) into European Portuguese and assess its psychometric properties. Methodology: Methodological study with a sample of 88 family caregivers of people with dementia. Internal consistency was assessed using McDonald's omega coefficient (ω). Construct validity was assessed through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and criterion validity through the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Results: The BAS showed excellent content validity. The EFA revealed a two-factor model, explaining 44% of variance, and a ω of 0.72. Family caregivers who live with people with dementia had greater ambiguous loss (t = 2.823, p < 0.01). A statistically significant moderate positive correlation was found between the BAS and the PSS (rs = 0.578, p < 0.01). Conclusion: The BAS has acceptable validity and internal consistency for assessing ambiguous loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adapting by making meaning of adverse life situations such as unavoidable losses and other stressful events throughout life is crucial for people to maintain their physical and mental well-being. Holland et al. (2010, 2014) created and validated two versions -long and short- of a scale to assess the degree of adaptation of an individual to a loss or a stressful event. To adapt and validate the Integration of Stressful Life Experiences Scale-Short Form (ISLES-SF) to Mexican Spanish, an instrumental study was carried out. In the exploratory factorial analysis, the sample consisted of 227 participants (M = 19.51, SD = 1.67) and in the confirmatory factorial analysis, 550 participated (M = 19.86, SD = 3.38). Each factorial analysis corroborated the bifactorial structure, with a good fit of the model, satisfactory internal reliability, and good construct and instrumental validity, like the original scale validations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meaning‐oriented approaches to grief therapy have made substantial contributions by defining the internal processes of meaning‐making and, more recently, clinical scholars have introduced relational approaches as means for continuing bonds with the deceased and increasing social support for the bereaved. However, the complicated interactive processes of interpersonal meaning‐making pose added challenges as family members attempt to coregulate each other's grief experiences. While systemic therapists have consistently emphasized the essential role of familial relationships in fostering resilience through interpersonally constructed meaning, there remains a need for clarity in terms of the specific processes by which this occurs. The Meaning Reconstruction Model and Emotionally Focused Therapy provide process‐oriented therapeutic strategies for facilitating interpersonal interactions that foster deep relational connection and self‐identity transformation. In this article, we explore how these models can be integrated and applied to the dynamic needs of families who are adjusting to loss. Future clinical and research directions are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The International Classification of Diseases eleventh edition (ICD-11) has recently included prolonged grief disorder (PGD), a diagnosis characterized by severe, persistent, and disabling grief. The text revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5 (DSM-5-TR) is scheduled to include a similar but distinct diagnosis, also termed PGD. Concerns have been raised that these new diagnoses are qualitatively different from both prior proposed diagnoses for pathological grief and each other, which may affect the generalizability of findings obtained with different criteria sets. We conducted a content overlap analysis of PGDICD-11, PGDDSM-5-TR, and previous proposals for pathological grief diagnoses (i.e. PGD 2009; complicated grief (CG), PGD ICD-11 beta draft, persistent complex bereavement disorder (PCBD) per DSM-5). Using the Jaccard's Index, we established the degree of content overlap between core and accessory symptoms of PGDICD-11, PGDDSM-5-TR, and prior proposals for pathological grief diagnoses. Main findings are that PGDICD-11 and PGDDSM-5-TR showed moderate content overlap with each other and with most prior proposed diagnoses for pathological grief. PGDICD-11 and PGDDSM-5-TR showed the strongest content overlap with their direct predecessors, PGDICD-11 beta draft and PCBD, respectively. Limited content overlap between PGDICD-11 and PGDDSM-5-TR and preceding criteria sets may threaten generalizability of past research on phenomenological characteristics of pathological grief to current criteria sets. Similarly, findings obtained with instruments to assess PGDICD-11 may not generalize to PGDDSM-5-TR and vice versa. Researchers should aim to determine under which circumstances criteria sets for PGD yield similar or distinct characteristics. Convergence of criteria sets for PGD remains an important goal for the future. Content overlap analyses showed moderate overlap between symptoms of PGD per DSM-5-TR and ICD-11 and between these diagnoses and prior criteria sets. We should establish when new criteria sets for PGD behave similarly or differently. Convergence of PGD criteria sets is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A significant increase in the number of individuals suffering from prolonged grief disorder is expected in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic for two main reasons. First, the number of excess deaths has contributed to an immense number of bereaved individuals. Second, recent literature has shown that circumstances associated with COVID-19 deaths may be contributing to increased risk for the development of prolonged grief disorder. To best support those affected by loss during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to inform clinicians and researchers about the development, the nature and the treatment of prolonged grief disorder and employ sound research. In this editorial, we discuss important themes regarding prolonged grief disorder in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, to gather and present useful information for clinicians and researchers. The following themes were addressed: 1. Harmonization in the diagnosis of prolonged grief disorder. 2. Screening tools and interventions. 3. Pharmacotherapy. 4. Special attention for the elderly. 5. Special attention for children and adolescents. 6. A causal system perspective for understanding grief and prolonged grief disorder. If those involved in bereavement research and care manage to collaborate, the tragic consequences of COVID-19 might catalyse improvement of care for those most impaired following the loss of a loved one. A significant increase in the number of individuals suffering from prolonged grief disorder is expected in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The tragic consequences of COVID-19 might catalyse improvement of care for those most impaired following the loss of a loved one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grief can be defined as the set of psychological and psychosocial processes that follow the loss of a loved one with whom the grieving person was psychologically linked, being a behavioral and emotional reaction caused by the breakdown of the emotional bond manifesting itself in a way of suffering. The present study intends to scientifically analyze the scientific production with the greatest impact on grief and bereavement of people with intellectual disabilities in the main multidisciplinary databases: Scopus and Web of Science (WoS), for this purpose three descriptors were delimited: "grief", "bereavement" and "intellectual disability". The procedure was carried out by means of a combined search by triplets, analyzing the information around eight variables: publications between the years 2009-2019, number of records in the scientific production from the years 2009 to 2019, number of records by type of documents published, number of records by titles of the sources from the scientific literature, number of records by countries, number of records by institutions, number of records by authors and number of citations in articles. The results show that we find a scientific field in development. It is important to work in research to know in detail the characteristics in the grieving process, together with a professional use tool that helps determine the support needs of people with intellectual disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The so-called 'crisis in masculinity' in the post-industrial/post-feminist world is not a new idea but in recent years it does seem to have forced its way back onto the agenda due to a lack of traditional employment, such as coal mining, thus robbing generations of men of their cultural identities. This collective 'crisis' has emerged through media attention on a succession of well-known men in the arts and sports worlds such as Bruce Springsteen, Stormzy, Professor Green and Rio Ferdinand, who share in common a strong sense of masculine identification. In addition, all have openly discussed the healing and relief experienced by embracing the vulnerable, emotional aspects of themselves, or what has been historically characterized as the anima archetype in Jungian psychology. This essay will recount some of their stories of struggle as they have bravely spoken up about their mental health issues, perhaps diminishing, by example, the erroneous notion of depression as a 'woman's problem'. As noted, in recent times we have witnessed a proliferation of famous men speaking out about their emotional difficulties, often in the context of loss and depression, thus providing potential role-modelling for a more expanded view of contemporary masculinity. This paper attempts to consider the tendency amongst a particular type of modern man who is both traditionally macho and simultaneously emotionally articulate with the capacity to open up about the experiences of their inner worlds and the environmental pressures they face in a fast-paced and ever-changing world. Beginning with some brief stories about the men listed above, the primary focus will be on the work of the UK cross-dressing artist and Turner Prize winner (2003) Grayson Perry (b. 1960), by studying his unusual and highly creative clarion call to challenge modern men to recalibrate their emotional behaviour and to speak openly about loss and emotional difficulty. As readers will see, he has developed a unique method that includes filmed, televised interactional interviews with various individuals and groups and he then produces art pieces that embody what has transpired through his engagement with their suffering and real-life dilemmas. This highly creative process offers a double or even triple containment for those struggling with all-too-human pain via the holding interview with him directly; the artwork that he creates as a result; and then through the recording on film that is shared with television audiences who are deeply affected by what they witness and who perhaps find a form of healing via identification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The study aimed to explore the content and features of loss-related memories in a sample of individuals bereaved by cancer with and without a probable diagnosis of prolonged grief disorder/persistent complex bereavement disorder (PGD/PCBD). Methods: Semi-structured interviews with 28 bereaved adults (PGD/PCBD = 12, NoPGD/PCBD = 16) were analysed using thematic analysis. Results: Three superordinate themes were identified: (1) intrusive imagery, (2) qualities of memory, and (3) triggers. Results showed that individuals suffering from probable PGD/PCBD reported a predominance of negative and upsetting memories, happy memories triggering pain and more negative intrusive imagery than those without PGD/PCBD. Conclusions: Bereavement by cancer can result in troubling intrusive memories that overshadow positive memories. Sufferers of PGD/PCBD are more likely to experience loss-related memories as negative and upsetting. Clinical approaches that utilise memory processing may be of particular relevance in this group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Prolonged grief disorder (PGD) will be newly included in the ICD-11, while a clinically similar diagnosis, persistent complex bereavement disorder (PCBD), has already been added to the DSM-5. Only few studies have evaluated these criteria-sets for prolonged grief. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the ICD-11 accessory symptom threshold and compare the diagnostic performance of the two criteria-sets in treatment-seeking bereaved persons. Method: 113 grief treatment-seeking bereaved persons completed the Interview for Prolonged Grief-13. We used receiver operator characteristic analysis to determine an optimum ICD-11 accessory symptom threshold. We calculated diagnostic rates for PGD and PCBD and examined associations of PGD and PCBD caseness with concurrently assessed psychopathology and prolonged grief symptoms assessed one month later. Results: An ICD-11 threshold of six accessory symptoms distinguished optimally between interview-diagnosed participants with and without prolonged grief. The prevalence of PGD (69%) was significantly higher than that of PCBD (48%) and of PGD with a 6-symptom threshold (47%). PGD caseness was associated with the relation to the deceased, 6-symptom threshold PGD and PCBD caseness with the time since loss. All criteria-sets were linked to concurrent prolonged grief, depression, and general mental distress. PCBD and 6-symptom threshold PGD but not PGD were associated with prolonged grief severity one month later. Conclusions: The results support the validity of PGD and PCBD but, at the same time, they provide further support for differing prevalence rates. Using an empirically determined ICD-11 accessory symptom threshold could prevent the pathologisation of grief reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article responds to the critical debate around Jennifer Kent's horror movie, The Babadook (2014), by offering an analysis that moves beyond its use of generic codes and its sociopolitical representation of maternity. It contends that reading the film as a trauma narrative allows us to better understand the horrifying experience suffered by Amelia Vanek (Essie Davis): her husband's premature death in a car accident. Taking Dominick LaCapra's concepts of acting out and working through as key interpretive tools, the analysis demonstrates how Kent conveys posttraumatic stress disorder as both a visceral and a material experience, inscribing absence and loss onto the cinematic texture of the film. The article offers the conclusion that, as The Babadook enacts Amelia's process of recuperation, figured as a psychosomatic struggle against her monstrous Other, she becomes able to express her trauma and, in doing so, is finally able to accept her husband's death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As Colombia faced the negotiation of a peace agreement between the government and the FARC guerrilla army, several films dealt with the challenges of a society trying to leave behind a decades-old armed conflict. This article focuses on films that shed light on the effects of such conflict, viewing them through the lens of loss--a long-lasting and irreparable consequence of violence. It discusses three films in detail: La sirga (2012), by William Vega; La tierra y la sombra (2015), by César Acevedo; and Siembra (2016), by Ángela Osorio and Santiago Lozano. Portraying characters that have experienced loss and inhabit a world indelibly marked by the void left by such loss, these films depict both their pain and the forces of survival that push them forward. They explore loss as an experience with political and creative potential, in which people can imagine a future where the wounds of the past are not forgotten. They also portray loss through an exploration of the liminal spaces of representation itself, using ambiguity and openness as a way to engage both local and international spectators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Narratives play a central role in the recovery process following death, and linguistic properties of grief narratives can serve as indicators of adjustment to loss. The present study examined whether bereaved men and women differ in how they discuss their loss, and how linguistic markers relate to psychological functioning. Positive associations were hypothesized between first-person singular pronoun use and psychological distress. Gender differences were expected for different emotion and social process words, and overall word use. Exploratory analyses were conducted to assess the relationship between linguistic markers and psychosocial outcomes for men and women separately. Method: 50 bereaved widow(er)s and parents (29 women, 21 men; MAge = 71.16 years, SD = 9.95) completed psychosocial self-report questionnaires and individual in-depth interviews. Grief narratives were analysed using Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC), a software program that quantifies words into linguistic and psychological categories. Results: Contrary to our hypothesis, first-person pronoun use was not related to psychological distress. Although gender differences emerged in self-reported psychosocial outcomes, we failed to find the predicted gender differences in linguistic markers (emotion and social process words, overall word count). Exploratory analyses revealed additional associations between linguistic markers and psychosocial outcomes, and gender differences in these relationships. Notably, first-person pronoun use was related to heightened grief avoidance. Furthermore, various linguistic markers were associated with increased depression levels in females, but not males. In contrast, nonfluencies were positively associated with indicators of psychological distress in men only. Conclusion: In line with the gender similarities hypothesis, analyses suggest similarities between men and women’s discussion of their grief experience. Associations between linguistic markers and psychological adjustment indicate that grief narratives contain meaningful indices of underlying health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Young children may be adversely impacted by separation from and loss of caregivers and other loved ones. Such experiences often co-occur with interpersonal violence, unpredictability and other traumas. Whether separation/loss has unique effects independent of those other adversities is not known. Objective: This study aimed to establish whether separation/loss is associated with trauma-related symptoms, psychiatric disorders, and functional impairment in 18- to 48-month-old children independent of other adversities. Methods: Data from a cross-sectional community and clinical cohort were analyzed. Recruitment occurred in pediatric primary care, mental health, and developmental services sites. Children (33% female) were heterogeneous in ethnic background (55% minority) and family socioeconomic status (40% living in poverty). Results: Separation/loss was common (30.9% single type, 15.0% multiple types) and frequent amongst violence-exposed children (84.4% of violence-exposed children had experienced separation/loss from a loved one). However, violence exposure was uncommon amongst children with separation/loss experiences (only 23.9% were violence-exposed). Separation/loss was significantly associated with symptoms of posttraumatic stress and reactive attachment, as well as impairment and psychiatric disorders in models that controlled for sociodemographic and contextual risks, including other traumas. Psychiatric disorders were approximately 2.5 times more likely in children who had experienced multiple separations/losses, after accounting for interpersonal violence which was also significant. Conclusion: Professionals working with young children, policy-makers and caregivers should be aware that an accumulation of caregiver separations/losses, irrespective of violence and other traumatic exposure, may have detrimental effects on young children especially in the context of prior separations/losses or disruptions in their lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- This paper aims to examine whether a sample of non-financial Chilean firms performed earnings management to avoid the decreases and losses in the earnings during the 2010-2014 period. Design/methodology/approach -- The analysis is undertaken using the distributions of earnings changes and earnings, according to Burgstahler and Dichev (1997) methodology. Findings -- The results showed unusually low frequencies of small losses and small declines in earnings and unusually high frequencies of small benefits and small increases in earnings. Both results were statistically significant. Practical implications -- The study presents evidence of possible earnings management activity to avoid reporting losses and earnings decreases during the period 2010-2014. These results would allow to identify "suspicious" companies of earnings management and would increase the likelihood of detecting firms that managed upside the reported earnings or that -- in an extreme case -- would be committing a fraud not disclosed. Originality/value -- The results of these types of studies would be useful to carry out monitoring and control activities, to increase transparency in the stock market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special issue is dedicated to the study of the processes of grief, loss and end of life. Previous research has shown the different paths and ways of coping with losses, as well as the existence of disenfranchised griefs and the implications that this has for health professionals who are present during this process. We present several research studies by authors of great international renown; in their articles, they address current models of grief and coping, emotional and cognitive disturbances associated with complicated grief, disenfranchised griefs, the development of instruments to evaluate these processes in Spanish and the implications of health care professionals during the end of life process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bereavement research is reaching the hundred-year landmark of the publication of Freud’s classic 1917 ‘Mourning and Melancholia’, an essay of great significance for subsequent theoretical developments, particularly — in the current context — with regard to the centrality placed on ‘grief work’ in coming to terms with bereavement. Where do we stand now, a century on, in our understanding of the nature of adaptive coping? In this article, after providing a summary of theoretical approaches across the decades of the twentieth century, we illustrate an important direction in contemporary research on coping, tracing this from the grief work notion to what has evolved into fine-grained examinations of confrontational-avoidant processing. A main thrust of recent investigation has been (1) to postulate and (2) to evaluate the efficacy of underlying mechanisms in relation to (mal)adaptive coping with bereavement: there has been systematic examination of regulatory cognitive-emotional processes in both clinical trials and more theoretically-focused studies. Evidence has become more conclusive; both types of investigation have benefitted from employment of newly available designs and techniques, and novel statistical methods. However, further establishment of the role of coping processes in (mal)adaptation is needed. We suggest directions for future research in this domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psychology seeks to understand human beings through their behaviour. However, there are other sources to obtain such understanding which, at its highest level, is generally regarded as “wisdom”. Nowadays, wisdom is mainly found not only in philosophical texts and essays but also in literary works. This article draws from the work of Proust items of practical knowledge to cope with the loss of a beloved person, either by death or by disaffection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new body of scholarship on death and loss has emerged as a sub-field within social and cultural geography. This work has done much to draw geographers’ attention to questions of death, dying and remembrance and likewise to bring a spatial perspective to interdisciplinary death studies. Whilst deathscapes have been framed within geographical work as incorporating material, embodied and virtual spaces, to date Anglo-American and European studies have tended to focus on the literal and representational spaces of the end of life, sites of bodily remains and memorialization. With a number of important exceptions, embodied and dynamic experiences of dying, death and survival have been absent within the geographies of death. This special section aims to broaden the scope, and to resist simple dichotomies of life and death, and to be especially attentive to the embodied and visceral experiences, practices and processes of dying, death and survival. In this introduction, we explore themes of dying/s, death/s and survival/s across varied international, national and cultural contexts, as discussed in the contributing papers and raised by the politics of recent events. This collection offers an expanded and enlivened approach to research, documenting facing death/s, journeys at the end of life, living through, on and with life-limiting illnesses, living with loss and the interconnected spatialities that these experiences and practices evoke for individuals and wider social groups. They open up new spaces of P/politics and emotions, challenging limited political and medicalized frames. The papers also raise methodological questions and present a challenging agenda for future research. This special section grew out of sessions we organized for the 2012 RGS-IBG Annual International Conference at the University of Edinburgh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every side in the debate about eliminating or retaining the bereavement exclusion for diagnosing major depressive disorder agreed that the DSM-IV was inconsistent. It exempted symptoms of depression from a depressive disorder diagnosis if they were a response to the loss of a loved one, but diagnosed depression symptoms in response to any other kind of loss or stress as a disorder. The participants in the debate did not agree how to resolve the inconsistency -- eliminate the exemption for bereavement, leave it in place, or extend it to all cases with loss & stress-triggered depression symptoms. The difference between how the debate was presented to the general public and the issues debated in the scientific literature is described, as are the facts upon which the various sides readily agreed. Scientific research that casts doubt upon some common assumptions about the psychology of grieving is also reviewed. The article concludes by taking note of both the scientific-empirical and metaphysical facets of the debate, and suggests a pragmatic, verbal solution for one of the metaphysical facets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Old age is a stage of life marked by multiple symbolic and / or concrete losses, although they are ineluctable and part of a life cycle, they are for the subject that live them, painful experiences, which require an adjustment to the new reality, namely, to new forms of existing. This problem, which plays quite deeply symbolic dimensions of everyday praxis of individuals living in residential structures is reflected in particular in the (re) construction of the subject's identity. In these specific contexts, social and cultural practices, while potentiating key dimensions of idleness time, taking a notorious importance in the way is made to adapt to loss and the self (re) construction is performed. Based on these assumptions, this article is structured in two main parts: in the first part, we will make a theoretical framework, analyzing contemporary old age under different points of structure, but interrelated, which will be given special attention to the social and cultural dimensions of this phenomenon; An approach to mourning, will be also carried out analyzing it as a development task, highlighting the relationship between the cultural context and adaptation practices to loss. Finally, we will study the relationship between idleness, culture and temporality in the development of institutionalized elderly. In the second part, we will discuss the results of a qualitative and exploratory research conducted by us with institutionalized elderly in Portugal. Thus, through the use of life stories, we see representations of the study participants regarding the influence that cultural activities, when transformed into entertainment experiences, hold in adapting to profound emotional loss and the identity (re) construction especially in specific contexts of institutionalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this albological, the author offers a homage to the memory of Professor Anastasio Rojo Vega. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores and moves toward a way of understanding the emergence of hoarding in the context of unresolved, unprocessed loss. It is argued that hoarding represents in many instances the pain of loss and the pressing, often stubborn, reluctance to accept this, with the hoard being developed as a kind of bulwark against change, transience and parting with lost objects and lost states. The paper is framed within a psychodynamic-psychoanalytic framework, with hoarding considered as a kind of defensive and self-protective manoeuvre, the hoard in part symbolising the lost object and the capacity to hold onto things corresponding to an omnipotent claim to stop the passage of time and to hold at bay the reality of change. This paper specifically considers the theme of loss as it arises in the lives of people who compulsively hoard, considering how the painfully passive experience of loss can stimulate the active and compulsive process of gathering together that we see in hoarding. As well as a displacement of interest from the animate (the person) to the inanimate, we find in hoarding a part-reanimation in fantasy of the lost object in the midst of the hoard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It takes 70 Ariguanabo combine to assess the quality of the potato crop in Cubaquivir Agroindustrial It takes 70 Ariguanabo combine to assess the quality of the potato crop in Cubaquivir Agroindustrial Company, located in the province of Pinar del Rio. The results indicate that the ability to clean the machine ranged between 74 and 77%, total losses are between 7,84 and 8,79%, and mechanical damage to potatoes harvested was between 6,54 and 8,15%, much higher than the permissible limits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Conduct a rapprochement between Freudian works: "Constructions in analysis" and "Mourning and Melancholia" and from this work, analyze the object's location and identification processes involved, the role of the loss and the possibility of recovering in the analysis through flashbacks and / or memory, the lost, and so failed. Development: An insight in recent psychoanalytic approaches around the loss of the object-its flaws and failures, and their effects on the subject's narcissism. Conclusions: contemporary psychoanalytic approaches now include the importance of thinking as a potential loss, the non-representation of what did not happen for the subject, and their technical capabilities in the analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five ambiguous ideas may be provided among the common sense notions of human memory: a single memory, defined as a strictly particular cognitive faculty whose function would be remembrance and, for this very reason, destined to represent the past whose traces would have been registered deliberately and explicitly. With these ideas in mind and based on the article by Juan Besse and Cora Escolar, by Ana Maria Sosa González and Maria Leticia Mazzucchi Ferreira and by Francisco Ramos de Farias, current article proposes a) that human beings are endowed with a variegated type of memory; b) that these memories are social; c) that their function is simultaneously the remembrance and acknowledgement of the past and its forgetfulness; d) that these memories are primarily at the service of the future; e) that they are the product of non-conscious acquisitions. The main argument engaging the discussion of the three articles is that human memory is subordinated to the loss principle. It involves selection, elimination, modification of past events under the effects of a set of cognitive, psychological and socially-limiting activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the present time, to several decades of arising risk analysis, it is the angular stone of safety management in many industries, but practice continues not very extended in academic entities. The identified problem has to do with the absence of a Loss Prevention Management System that allows identify activities, equipment, materials or management strategies that can be loss causes or potential sources of human, financial and material being necessary to make decisions in hierarchical to order them and propose improvements to minimize the problems identified. In this work, a methodological guide is designed, which includes the use of processes safety tools to consider in developing a management system for loss prevention, to help identify, reduce and / or remove the causes of accidents by fire, explosion, or contamination, and financial costs associated with them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study is a review based on bibliographic search, interviews and the experience of the author about health care process, as it is currently done, for parents that face the death of their child. This research belongs to the qualitative paradigm, using a semi structure interview as method of data recollection. Several answers were obtained seeing parents perception about health care of health team, mainly of nursing professionals, from diagnosis to the moment of mourning they are. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This text deals with the difficulty of constructing a psychopathology including subjectivity. It explains the epistemological criteria which have prevailed in the institutionalization of child's psychopathology, and it discusses the problem of a clinical practice which is aimed at the construction of subjectivity and the formation of the self. For this purpose, three key issues of the metaphorisation's process will be analyzed: the experience of knowledge, love and the word. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impossibility of substituting one object for another arises due to the existence of a remainder, which is the effect of alterity and of the singularity of the other. Understanding the difference between lack and loss makes it possible to understand this irreducibility. Lack is the fundament of the subject and it only takes shape with loss and consent, an experience that belongs to the order of the feminine. The feminine also appears in the excess that is characteristic of mourning, as that which escapes discourse. The article also analyzes the consequences for clinical psychoanalysis of the position assumed regarding mourning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The myth of Orpheus, descending to Hades to find Eurydice, plunges us into the problem of mourning. The doctrine of "orphism" shows that there is a possible sublimation after the double loss of Eurydice. In Ovid's version, the presence of two types of silence at the time of the ascent from Hades allows us to clinically locate the specific aspects of the Symbolic (ineffable silence) and of the Real (unspeakable silence) during the work of mourning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What happens with mourning in a woman? After reviewing Freud and Melanie Klein, the article addresses the real of the woman's body in order to enquire into its relationship to loss, on the basis of the work of psychoanalysts who have talked since their clinical work after Lacan. Hysteria and obsessive neurosis provide woman with a mechanism to protect from the real which is proper. Clinical practice with adolescents clarifies this issue in a particular way, in the mother-child relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fetal death in pregnancy, during delivery or in the days after birth is a sensible topic, influenced by several factors. The loss can trigger grief reactions in parents as well as situations difficult to manage by health care workers. This grief, which receives scant consideration, can complicate and give rise to psychiatric disorders. It is necessary to know the significance of perinatal loss from the parents' perspective not to make the mistake of displaying paternalist attitudes or relying on dogmatic guidelines that consider all parents equal in the face of losses to which they attach different meanings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. The role of loss has been carefully examined in research on depression, since it constitutes a central aspect of most of the life events that lead to depression. Methods. In the present study, a review of different studies on the role of loss was carried out, focusing on its different aspects and different types, the association between loss and some mental diseases, loss and prognosis, the relationship between hopelessness and loss, variations of the events of loss based on different factors, as well as loss in childhood. Results. Loss constitutes a central role in the appearance of many depressive disorders. It can act as a provoking agent, a vulnerability factor, or an agent that can modify the form, severity, and course of a depressive disorder. Different factors such as genetics, gender, or the time of life when the loss takes place can modulate the influence of loss events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is an account of how a civilization works through the problems it faces when it is threatened with destruction. It focuses on the example of the Crow Nation, an Indian tribe of the northwest plains of North America, and their last great chief Plenty Coups. Psychoanalytic ideas play a crucial role in explaining how a creative response was possible. In particular, their collective use of dream-visions and dream-interpretation made possible the creation of a new ego ideal for the tribe. This allowed for the transformation of traditional allocations of shame and humiliation. It also allowed for the possibility of transformation of psychological structure. And it opened up new possibilities for what might count as flourishing as a Crow. Conversely, the threat of civilizational collapse allows us to see new possibilities for the conceptual development of psychoanalysis. In particular, psychoanalysis needs to recognize that destruction can occur at the level of the culture while the individuals are not physically harmed. The psychological states of these individuals can be various and complex and cannot be neatly summed up under the category of trauma. A culture can be devastated, while there is no-to-one relation to the psychological states of the individuals who participate in that culture. It is also true that a collapse of a way of life makes a variety of psychological states impossible. Coming to understand these phenomena is essential to understanding how a culture works through threats to its very existence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The death of a child of any age can be traumatic and can leave bereaved parents experiencing negative psychological outcomes. Recent research has shown the potential utility for understanding more about the development of post-traumatic growth following bereavement. Objective: This paper sought to identify the aspects of post-traumatic growth experienced by bereaved parents and the factors that may be involved in facilitating or preventing post-traumatic growth. Methods: A systematic search of peer-reviewed articles with a primary focus on positive personal growth in bereaved parents was conducted. Thirteen articles met the inclusion criteria, and were analysed and synthesized according to common and divergent themes. Results: Bereaved parents were able to experience elements of growth proposed by the post-traumatic growth model (changes in self-perception, relationships, new possibilities, appreciation of life and existential views). The papers also indicated that (1) mothers appeared to experience more growth than fathers, (2) cultural variation may impact on some participants' experience of growth, and (3) participants were able to identify growth only once some time had passed. Potential facilitators of post-traumatic growth involved making meaning, keeping ongoing bonds with the child, being with bereaved families, and family and personal characteristics. Social networks were identified as having the potential to be either a facilitator or a barrier to growth. Conclusions: In addition to experiencing grief, bereaved parents may experience aspects of post-traumatic growth, and a variety of factors have been identified as potential facilitators and barriers of these changes. The findings may have implications for support services (e.g. expert-by-experience services). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) is over-represented among those who have lost loved ones to violent causes. To tailor PGD interventions for this vulnerable population it is critical to examine the aetiology of PGD specifically in the context of violent death bereavement. Previous studies have suggested that violent loss increases symptoms of PGD by hindering the mourner's ability to make meaning of the death or its aftermath. However, these studies have relied on cross sectional data that preclude genuine prediction and have not differentiated among specific themes of meaning. Objective: This study aimed to identify specific themes of meaning that mediate the detrimental impact of violent loss on subsequent emergence of PGD symptomatology among the violently bereft. Method: A longitudinal, prospective design (N = 171) was used to assess violent loss and themes of meaning an average of six months post-loss allowing for prediction of PGD symptoms an average of eight months later. Results: Violent loss had a significant indirect effect on PGD symptomatology when meaning themes focusing on sense of peace and continuing bonds served as mediators. Conclusions: This study demonstrates the mediating role that specific meaning themes play in the development of PGD symptomatology following violent loss. These findings highlight the potential benefits of applying a meaning-based intervention approach with the violently bereft. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The disappearance of a loved one is a unique type of loss, also termed 'ambiguous loss', which may heighten the risk for developing prolonged grief (PG), depression, and posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms. Little is known about protective and risk factors for psychopathology among relatives of missing persons. A potential protective factor is self-compassion, referring to openness toward and acceptance of one's own pain, failures, and inadequacies. One could reason that self-compassion is associated with lower levels of emotional distress following ambiguous loss, because it might serve as a buffer for getting entangled in ruminative thinking about the causes and consequences of the disappearance ('grief rumination'). Objective: In a sample of relatives of missing persons we aimed to examine (1) the prediction that greater self-compassion is related to lower symptom-levels of PG, depression, and PTS and (2) to what extent these associations are mediated by grief rumination. Method: Dutch and Belgian relatives of long-term missing persons (N = 137) completed self-report measures tapping self-compassion, grief rumination, PG, depression, and PTS. Mediation analyses were conducted. Results: Self-compassion was significantly, negatively, and moderately associated with PG, depression, and PTS levels. Grief rumination significantly mediated the associations of higher levels of self-compassion with lower levels of PG (a*b = −0.11), depression (a*b = −0.07), and PTS (a*b = −0.11). Specifically, 50%, 32%, and 32% of the effect of self-compassion on PG, depression, and PTS levels, respectively, was accounted for by grief rumination. Conclusions: Findings suggest that people with more self-compassion experience less severe psychopathology, in part because these people are less strongly inclined to engage in ruminative thinking related to the disappearance. Strengthening a self-compassionate attitude using, for instance, mindfulness-based interventions may therefore be a useful intervention to reduce emotional distress associated with the disappearance of a loved one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Little is known about the development of Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) symptoms over time in adults. For clinical purposes, it would be useful to have knowledge about early indicators of a problematic grief trajectory. Objective: This study aimed to identify classes of bereaved individuals with similar trajectories of PGD symptoms and to design a provisional screening tool including symptoms predicting membership of classes with problematic grief trajectories. Method: In a Dutch sample of 166 bereaved individuals, we conducted a latent class analysis to identify classes of bereaved individuals with similar trajectories of PGD symptoms between two time points (mean of 6 and 18 months post-loss, respectively). Next, we used Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analyses to examine which symptoms at baseline best predicted membership of classes with problematic grief trajectories. Results: We found four different classes: a class including individuals with persistent high PGD symptoms (class 1, 6%), a class of individuals with persistent moderate PGD symptoms (class 2, 35%), a class of individuals with slightly decreasing moderate PGD symptoms (class 3, 33%) and a class of individuals with persistent low PGD symptoms (class 4, 26%). The endorsement of symptoms 'yearning', 'stunned', 'life is empty' and 'bitterness' as present 'often' during the preceding month at baseline best-predicted membership of class 1 or 2. Conclusions: Two classes of individuals with problematic grief trajectories were identified. Four symptoms were found which could act as early indicators of these two classes in a provisional screening tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) is over-represented among those who have lost loved ones to violent causes. To tailor PGD interventions for this vulnerable population it is critical to examine the aetiology of PGD specifically in the context of violent death bereavement. Previous studies have suggested that violent loss increases symptoms of PGD by hindering the mourner's ability to make meaning of the death or its aftermath. However, these studies have relied on cross sectional data that preclude genuine prediction and have not differentiated among specific themes of meaning. Objective: This study aimed to identify specific themes of meaning that mediate the detrimental impact of violent loss on subsequent emergence of PGD symptomatology among the violently bereft. Method: A longitudinal, prospective design (N = 171) was used to assess violent loss and themes of meaning an average of six months post-loss allowing for prediction of PGD symptoms an average of eight months later. Results: Violent loss had a significant indirect effect on PGD symptomatology when meaning themes focusing on sense of peace and continuing bonds served as mediators. Conclusions: This study demonstrates the mediating role that specific meaning themes play in the development of PGD symptomatology following violent loss. These findings highlight the potential benefits of applying a meaning-based intervention approach with the violently bereft. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Little is known about the development of Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) symptoms over time in adults. For clinical purposes, it would be useful to have knowledge about early indicators of a problematic grief trajectory. Objective: This study aimed to identify classes of bereaved individuals with similar trajectories of PGD symptoms and to design a provisional screening tool including symptoms predicting membership of classes with problematic grief trajectories. Method: In a Dutch sample of 166 bereaved individuals, we conducted a latent class analysis to identify classes of bereaved individuals with similar trajectories of PGD symptoms between two time points (mean of 6 and 18 months post-loss, respectively). Next, we used Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analyses to examine which symptoms at baseline best predicted membership of classes with problematic grief trajectories. Results: We found four different classes: a class including individuals with persistent high PGD symptoms (class 1, 6%), a class of individuals with persistent moderate PGD symptoms (class 2, 35%), a class of individuals with slightly decreasing moderate PGD symptoms (class 3, 33%) and a class of individuals with persistent low PGD symptoms (class 4, 26%). The endorsement of symptoms 'yearning', 'stunned', 'life is empty' and 'bitterness' as present 'often' during the preceding month at baseline best-predicted membership of class 1 or 2. Conclusions: Two classes of individuals with problematic grief trajectories were identified. Four symptoms were found which could act as early indicators of these two classes in a provisional screening tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The disappearance of a loved one is a unique type of loss, also termed 'ambiguous loss', which may heighten the risk for developing prolonged grief (PG), depression, and posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms. Little is known about protective and risk factors for psychopathology among relatives of missing persons. A potential protective factor is self-compassion, referring to openness toward and acceptance of one's own pain, failures, and inadequacies. One could reason that self-compassion is associated with lower levels of emotional distress following ambiguous loss, because it might serve as a buffer for getting entangled in ruminative thinking about the causes and consequences of the disappearance ('grief rumination'). Objective: In a sample of relatives of missing persons we aimed to examine (1) the prediction that greater self-compassion is related to lower symptom-levels of PG, depression, and PTS and (2) to what extent these associations are mediated by grief rumination. Method: Dutch and Belgian relatives of long-term missing persons (N = 137) completed self-report measures tapping self-compassion, grief rumination, PG, depression, and PTS. Mediation analyses were conducted. Results: Self-compassion was significantly, negatively, and moderately associated with PG, depression, and PTS levels. Grief rumination significantly mediated the associations of higher levels of self-compassion with lower levels of PG (a*b = −0.11), depression (a*b = −0.07), and PTS (a*b = −0.11). Specifically, 50%, 32%, and 32% of the effect of self-compassion on PG, depression, and PTS levels, respectively, was accounted for by grief rumination. Conclusions: Findings suggest that people with more self-compassion experience less severe psychopathology, in part because these people are less strongly inclined to engage in ruminative thinking related to the disappearance. Strengthening a self-compassionate attitude using, for instance, mindfulness-based interventions may therefore be a useful intervention to reduce emotional distress associated with the disappearance of a loved one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]