Dreams of the Deceased: Who Has Them and Why? by Joshua D. M
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Dreams of the Deceased: Who Has Them and Why? By Joshua D. M. Black A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree Doctor of Philosophy Faculty of Social Sciences Department of Psychology BROCK UNIVERSITY St. Catharines, Ontario December, 2018 ©Joshua D. M. Black, 2018 Abstract The limited research on dreams of the deceased is a cause for concern for those working with bereaved persons. This research addressed four questions: 1. Why do some bereaved individuals dream of the deceased while others do not? 2. Why are some dreams of the deceased a positive experience, while others are negative? 3. Are dreams of the deceased a form of continuing bond? 4. Are continuing bonds helpful for grief recovery? Four studies were conducted. In one, participants were 268 U.S. residents who had a romantic partner or spouse die in the prior 12 to 24 months. The second study had 199 U.S. residents whose dog or cat had died in the prior six months. The third study had 226 U.S. residents who experienced a stillbirth or miscarriage in the prior year. The fourth study had 218 participants, mostly U.S. residents, who had a romantic partner or spouse die in the prior 6 to 24 months. Participants completed all questionnaires online. Study 1 and 2 focused primarily on the issue of predicting the frequency of dreams of the deceased and found that frequency of general dream recall (all dreams, not just dreams of the deceased) was the primary predictor. In addition, grief intensity, openness to experience, and attachment security all showed indirect effects. All four studies, but especially studies 2 through 4, addressed the questions about the quality of dream experience, the relation of dreams of the deceased to continuing bonds, and the adaptiveness of continuing bonds. In general the findings from all four studies, but especially study 4, support the idea that there are multiple types of continuing bonds with differing impacts on grief recovery, and there are differing forms of dreams of the deceased, not all of which represent continuing bonds. Key words: Grief, Dreams, Dream Recall, Attachment, Continuing Bonds ii Dedication I would like to dedicate this to my dad, Mark K. Black, who departed on January 12, 2008. iii Acknowledgements I would like to thank my faculty supervisor, Dr. Kathy Belicki, whose guidance and support allowed me to not only research this topic, but to pursue educating the public through writing my first children’s book on grief dreams (Dreaming of Owl), starting the Grief Dreams Podcast, developing www.griefdreams.ca, and doing interviews. Additionally, I would like to thank my committee members, Dr. Kimberly Cote and Dr. Michael Ashton for all your support and encouragement along the way. Lastly, I would like to thank all those I have met along this journey that have supported me (family, friends, and strangers). You know who you are, and I greatly appreciated all the love and support you offered me. iv Organizational Note The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate some common questions that bereaved persons have when it comes to the topic of dreams of the deceased. Due to the limited research on this topic, many bereaved persons do not understand these dream experiences and grief counsellors have difficulty providing answers. Two common questions that bereaved persons can have are, “Why have I not had dreams of the deceased?” and “Why am I having negative dreams of the deceased?”. The introduction of this document provides an overview of grief, dreams, and continuing bonds. Within the context of continuing bonds, attachment and dreams of the deceased are discussed. Then an exploration of possible variables that may predict dreaming of the deceased is considered, which are dream recall, openness to experience, grief intensity, and attachment. Discussion of the possible functions of dreams of the deceased is then explored, which are attachment theory and dreams as a continuing bond, emotion regulation, and trauma dreams. Lastly, discussion follows on whether dreams of the deceased and continuing bonds may be adaptive in the recovery process. Four studies were completed in this dissertation, with each study being reported in chronological order. Each study follows the same format: Hypotheses, Method (participants, measures, and procedure), Results (with figures and tables), and Discussion. The general discussion follows next, which discusses the overall results from the four studies. There is an overview on predicting dreams of the deceased, dream content in dreams of the deceased, and continuing bonds. Limitations and future directions are reported within each of those sections, and additionally there is a section on further v limitations and future directions. Next, there is discussion on the applications and implications, with references and appendices that follow. One manuscript has been submitted to the journal ‘Dreaming’ in 2017, and it is currently under review. This manuscript is titled “Who Dreams of the Deceased? The Roles of Dream Recall, Grief Intensity, Attachment, and Openness to Experience”. This manuscript explores what factors predict dreaming of the deceased from study 1 and 2 in this document. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract…………………………………………………………………………… ii Dedication…………………………………………………………………........... iii Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………. iv Organizational Note……………………………………………………………… v Table of Contents………………………………………………………………… vii List of Tables………………………………………………………………......... xiii List of Figures……………………………………………………………………. xvi List of Appendices……………………………………………………………….. xvii Introduction………………………………………………………………………. 1 The Characteristics of Grief……………………………………………… 2 Dreams……………………………………………………………………. 4 Continuing Bonds…………………………………………………………. 6 Attachment and Continuing Bonds……………………………………….. 10 Continuing Bonds and Dreams of the Deceased…………………………. 12 Factors Predicting Dreaming of the Deceased…………………………… 15 Dream recall……………………………………………………… 16 Openness to experience……………………………………........... 19 Grief intensity…………………………………………………….. 20 Attachment style………………………………………………….. 21 Dream Function……………………………………………………........... 23 Attachment theory and dreams as a continuing bond …….……… 24 Emotion regulation……………………………………………….. 25 vii Trauma dreams…………………………………………………… 26 Are Dreams of the Deceased and Continuing Bonds Adaptive?................ 27 The Present Research…………………………………………………….. 30 Study 1……………………………………………………………………………. 32 Hypotheses…………………………………………………………… 32 Predicting dreams of the deceased…………………………........... 32 Dreams of the deceased and continuing bonds…………………… 34 Method……………………………………………………….…………… 35 Participants……………………………………………………........... 35 Measures…………………………………………………………….. 36 Dream questionnaire……………………………………………… 36 Inventory of Traumatic Grief…………………………………….. 37 The HEXACO Personality Inventory…………………………….. 37 Experiences in Close Relationships—Specific……………........... 38 Continuing Bonds Scale………………………………………….. 38 Intrinsic religiosity……………………………………………….. 40 Procedure……………………………………………………………. 40 Results……………………………………………………………………. 41 Preliminary Analyses………………………………………………… 41 What Variables Predict Recalling Dreams of the Deceased?............... 45 Data analytic approach…………………………………………… 45 Path analyses………………………………………………........... 45 Moderation analyses……………………………………………… 51 viii Dreams of the Deceased and Continuing Bonds…………………….. 53 Post hoc analyses…………………………………………………. 55 Continuing Bonds and Grief ………………………………………… 55 Correlation analyses……………………………………………… 55 Post hoc analyses…………………………………………………. 57 Moderation analyses……………………………………………… 57 Discussion………………………………………………………………… 59 Predicting Dreams of the Deceased………………………………….. 60 Dreams of the Deceased and Continuing Bonds…………………….. 61 Study 2……………………………………………………………………………. 67 Hypotheses…………………………………………………………… 67 Predicting dreams of the deceased…………………………........... 67 Dreams of the deceased and continuing bonds…………………… 68 Continuing bonds and grief……………………………………….. 70 Method……………………………………………………………………. 70 Participants……………………………………………………........... 70 Measures…………………………………………………….……….. 71 Dream content categories…………………………………………. 72 Continuing Bonds Pet Scale……………………………………… 73 Procedure…………………………………………………….………. 77 Results……………………………………………………………………. 78 Preliminary Analyses………………………………………………… 78 199 participants…………………………………………………… 78 ix 162 participants…………………………………………………… 80 What Factors Predict Dreaming of the Deceased?............................... 82 Data analytic approach…………………………………………… 82 Path analyses………………………………………………........... 84 Moderation analyses………………………………………………. 87 Dreams of the Deceased and Continuing Bonds…………………….. 87 Dream Content………………………………………………………. 90 Continuing Bonds and Grief ………………………………………… 93 Correlation analyses………………………………………………. 93 Moderation analyses……………………………………………… 95 Discussion………………………………………………………………… 95 Predicting Dreams of the Deceased………………………….………. 97 Dreams of the Deceased and Continuing Bonds…………………….. 99 Continuing Bonds……………………………………………………. 102 Study 3……………………………………………………………………………. 105 Research Questions and Hypotheses………………………………… 105 Method……………………………………………………….…………… 106 Participants……………………………………………….………….. 106 Measures……………………………………………….……..……… 108 Inventory of Traumatic Grief……………………….…………….. 108 Dream questionnaire……………………………………………… 108 Continuing Bonds Scale – prenatal loss………………………….. 109 Closeness measure……………………………………….……….. 112 x Procedure……………………………………………….………… 113 Results………………………………………………………….………… 114 Preliminary Analyses…………………………………………….