The present study examined whether the Sex of the participant, Cause of death (natural causes or suicide) and Sex of the bereaved were related to the perceived helpfulness of the behaviors and comments of support providers. After reading one of four scenarios in which a parent's cause of death and the sex of the grieving child were varied, 198 college students (112 women, 86 men) rated the helpfulness of 34 statements. Significant main effects for sex of the participant and cause of death were both found. While no significant main effect for sex of the bereaved was found, this variable did interact with sex of the participant and with cause of death for the variable of Provision of physical comfort. Significant interactions for sex of the participant x cause of death were found for the variables of Provision of physical comfort and Identification with the situation. The results underscore the value of multiple providers of support during grieving.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.