Abstract
Most people at some stage in their life must confront bereavement but people deal with it in different ways, with of course different consequences. There are many factors that influence this for example attachment to the deceased and gender. The aim of this present study was to evaluate coping with the stress of bereavement as well as evidence relevant to application of the attachment theory and death anxiety to bereavement. The study is based on a correlational research questionnaire distributed to 47 second year, part-time psychology students from Dublin Business School. The predictor variables are the attachment style, relationship to the deceased, age and sex and the criterion variables are the total score on the Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen et al., 1983), Templer's Death Anxiety Scale (Templer, 1970) and The Brief COPE Scale (Carver, 1997). Results are interpreted in relation to previous literature in the area and suggestions for future research are suggested.
