Date
6-26-2025
Department
School of Behavioral Sciences
Degree
Doctor of Education in Community Care and Counseling (EdD)
Chair
Sarah F. Walsh
Keywords
Bereavement, attachment, self-efficacy, grief, loss, depression, loneliness
Disciplines
Counseling
Recommended Citation
Ward, Christine M., "The Meaning and Essence of Depression and Loneliness in Widowhood: Discovering the Healthy Construct of Self-Efficacy" (2025). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 7137.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/7137
Abstract
The purpose of this phenomenological study will be to describe the lived experience of widows aged 65-80 who lost their husbands within the past five years in one of three counties in Washington State: Pierce, Kitsap, or Mason. The two theories guiding this study will be Bowlby’s Attachment Theory and Bandura’s Social Learning Theory, (SLT), as they relate to post-loss identity and mourning. Both serve as vital tools for surviving and recovering from the impact of losing a spouse. When these affectional attachments are lost, a widow’s quality of life can be lessened or even damaged. A widow will go through phases of grief in her own unique way and time frame. She may experience grief in the form of numbness, yearning, disorganization, anger, confusion, and searching. Though not linear, grief is universal and complex and has its own unique variations. Qualitative research is the right choice for this study because it fits the goal to describe and understand the lived experiences of pre-and-post-loss bereavement and the steps towards building a new identity. The conceptual framework and philosophical assumption will be Ontological, the nature of multiple realities. The methodology and design will be a transcendental approach reflecting upon essential themes, through recorded interviews, conversations, photographs, artifacts, and observations. Twelve to twenty-five women will be preselected who meet the designated criteria. This research study’s objective is to find themes and patterns within the lived experience of spousal loss. Interviews secured from these widows will reveal the self-efficacy coping skills most protective for a woman facing a devastating and stressful life event, avoiding depression, and the devastation of complicated grief.
