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The Experience of Men After Miscarriage Stephanie Dianne Rose Purdue University

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The Experience of Men After Miscarriage Stephanie Dianne Rose Purdue University Purdue University Purdue e-Pubs Open Access Dissertations Theses and Dissertations January 2015 The Experience of Men After Miscarriage Stephanie Dianne Rose Purdue University Follow this and additional works at: https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_dissertations Recommended Citation Rose, Stephanie Dianne, "The Experience of Men After Miscarriage" (2015). Open Access Dissertations. 1426. https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_dissertations/1426 This document has been made available through Purdue e-Pubs, a service of the Purdue University Libraries. Please contact [email protected] for additional information. THE EXPERIENCE OF MEN AFTER MISCARRIAGE A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Purdue University by Stephanie Dianne Rose In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2015 Purdue University West Lafayette, Indiana ii To my curious, sweet, spunky, intelligent, and fun-loving daughter Amira, and to my unborn baby (lost to miscarriage February 2010), whom I never had the privilege of meeting. I am extremely happy and fulfilled being your mother. Thank you for your motivation and inspiration. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to everyone who contributed to my study. Specifically, I am indebted to my sisters Sara Okello and Stacia Firebaugh for their helpful revisions, and to my parents Scott and Susan Firebaugh for their emotional and financial support along the way. I am thankful to those who provided childcare during this project, including my family and friends. My wonderful family and friends have blessed me with much support and encouragement throughout this project. I am also very grateful to my advisor Dr. Heather Servaty-Seib for her tireless support and investment in this project. Her guidance and contributions have been invaluable. I admire her passion for the study of grief and loss, and her many sacrifices. I also admire her as a woman, psychologist, and mother. Thank you to my dissertation committee, Dr. Ayşe Çiftçi, Dr. Tara Johnson, and Dr. Erina MacGeorge, for your investment in and support of this project. Your contributions have truly strengthened the study. I am most especially grateful to the brave men who shared their stories. I am incredibly honored and humbled to present your voices. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... vi CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................1 Overview of the Problem .........................................................................................1 Importance of the Study ...........................................................................................5 Statement of Purpose ...............................................................................................7 Terminology and Concepts ..........................................................................7 Relevance to Counseling Psychology ....................................................................10 CHAPTER II. LITERATURE REVIEW ..........................................................................12 Psychology and Men’s Experiences ......................................................................13 Gender Bias in Grief Literature .............................................................................17 Men and Grief ........................................................................................................22 Miscarriage and Grief ............................................................................................25 Miscarriage: Loss or No Loss ....................................................................25 View of Physical and Psychosocial Loss ...................................................25 View of Minimal or No Loss .....................................................................26 Miscarriage and Attachment Theory .........................................................27 Disenfranchised Grief ................................................................................30 Women and Miscarriage ............................................................................32 Couples and Miscarriage............................................................................37 Men and Miscarriage .................................................................................40 Summary and Critique ...............................................................................42 Meaning Reconstruction, Men, and Grief..............................................................43 Purpose ...................................................................................................................45 Research Questions ................................................................................................46 CHAPTER III. METHOD .................................................................................................47 Paradigm ................................................................................................................48 Design ....................................................................................................................49 Participants .............................................................................................................53 Masculinity and Gender Roles ...................................................................55 Measures ................................................................................................................57 Interview Protocol ......................................................................................57 Demographic and Background Form .........................................................58 Masculinity Measures ................................................................................59 Procedures ..............................................................................................................60 Participant Recruitment .............................................................................64 v Page Data Collection ..........................................................................................62 Data Analysis and Interpretation ...........................................................................66 Validity ..................................................................................................................73 Researcher Background .........................................................................................76 CHAPTER IV. RESULTS .................................................................................................78 Table 2 ...................................................................................................................80 Table 3 ...................................................................................................................81 Table 4 ...................................................................................................................82 Table 5 ...................................................................................................................84 Table 6 ...................................................................................................................85 Men’s Emotional and Behavioral Expressions ......................................................85 Duration of Participant Expressions ..........................................................86 Nature of Emotional Expressions ..............................................................87 Nature of Behavioral Expressions .............................................................92 Important Unique Expressions ...................................................................94 Participant View of Partner Emotional and Behavioral Expressions ....................96 Greater Level of Psychological Distress for Partners ................................96 Duration of Partner Expressions ................................................................97 Nature of Partner Expression .....................................................................98 Men’s Coping.......................................................................................................100 Offering Support to Partners ....................................................................101 Relying on Social Support .......................................................................104 Viewing the Miscarriage as a Challenge .................................................108 Staying busy/Following a Routine ...........................................................111 Hope for Future Fertility or Family Planning/Expansion ........................113 Appreciating the Existence of a Living Child ..........................................115 Learning Medical Information .................................................................116 Meaning Reconstruction ......................................................................................118 Gratefulness for an Early Gestational Loss .............................................118 Belief in a Reason/Purpose for the Miscarriage ......................................120 Enhanced Value for Fertility and Life .....................................................121 Strengthened Family Relationships .........................................................122 Men’s Perspectives of Gender Roles and Masculinity ........................................124
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