TPC-Journal-V5-Issue4

The Professional Counselor /Volume 5, Issue 4 447 or living and cohabiting with another person in a marriage-like relationship, including a marriage- like relationship between persons of the same gender. Participants were chosen from seven national organizations serving veterans. The researcher recruited participants from these organizations by explaining the study and asking for volunteers. The director or assistant director of each organization distributed study information and materials through listservs and posted them on their Web sites. Once prospective participants received an e-mail, they decided whether they wanted to participate and whether they met the eligibility requirements. If the spouses decided to participate in the study, they would complete the survey through Survey Monkey. Variables Demographic variables included age, race/ethnicity, length of relationship with the deceased partner, the decedent’s military status (active or retired), the decedent’s length of service, and time elapsed since death. The survey also asked about the deceased’s rank, education level, surviving children and prior suicide attempts. A self-report online survey was constructed using the following five instruments: the Core Bereavement Items (CBI; Holland, Futterman, Thompson, Moran, & Gallagher-Thompson, 2013), the Stigma of Suicide and Suicide Survivor Scale (STOSASS; Scocco, Castriotta, Toffol, & Preti, 2012), the Coping Self-Efficacy Scale (CSES; Chesney, Neilands, Chambers, Taylor, & Folkman, 2006), the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS; Zimet, 1988), and the Stress Appraisal Measure (SAM; Peacock & Wong, 1990). The SAM is one measure. However, the variables of primary stress appraisal and secondary stress appraisal within it were separated, and the questions within the SAM regarding primary stress appraisal were referred to as the primary stress appraisal measure (PSAM), and the remaining questions of the SAM were referred to as the secondary stress appraisal measure (SSAM). In addition to these assessments, participants would also answer 11 demographic questions and three open-ended questions. The survey was split into seven sections. The first section had 11 demographic questions. The second section, comprised of the MSPSS, had 12 questions regarding social support of the participant and used a 7-point Likert scale. The third section, comprised of the CBI, had 26 questions regarding the participant’s ability to cope and used a 10-point Likert scale. The fourth section, comprised of the SAM, had 19 questions regarding participant’s stress appraisal measures and used a 4-point Likert scale. The fifth section, comprised of the STOSASS, had 17 questions regarding the participant’s perceived stigma and used a 4-point Likert scale. The sixth section, comprised of the CBI, had 17 questions regarding the participant’s bereavement process and used a 4-point Likert scale. The survey included the three following open- ended questions that were derived from the Grief Evaluation Measure (GEM) and reviewed by three licensed professional counselors working in the field of suicide bereavement: (1) What do you recall about how you responded to the death of your spouse at the time?; (2) What was the most painful part of the experience to you?; and (3) How has this experience affected your view of yourself or your view of your world? To analyze the qualitative responses, the researcher identified the most commonly recurring words or phrases used by participants for each question. Three experts in the field of grief and loss were consulted and confirmed the content and face validity of the survey. Data Analysis The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), a statistical software package, generated all of the statistics for this research investigation. A Pearson correlation analysis was conducted to determine whether there was a linear relationship between primary appraisal, secondary appraisal, social support, coping skills, stigma and bereavement for women whose military spouse