AshlieObrecht

Alex Rice, is a Ph.D. student in Counseling Psychology and a widow and the principle investigator on the study.

The title of the study is "New Relationships Following the Loss of an Intimate Partner." The purpose of this study is to understand aspects of bereaved partners' new relationships that relate to the quality of those relationships. Specifically, this study will examine whether communication about the relationship between the bereaved partner and their partner who died has an effect on the quality of the new relationship. We will also examine how communication about the first relationship and satisfaction in the new relationship relate to guilt around the partner who died, and both partners' attachment style, and levels of loneliness and depression.

Survey data will be collected about these variables from bereaved partners who have re-partnered and their new partners, and bereaved partners who have not repartnered. We will use this data to test a model about the inter-relationship of these variables