Does time heal all wounds? An investigation of time, grief, and attitudes toward death.

When experiencing the loss of a loved one, individuals adapt and change how they understand death, how they interpret the meaning of the loss, and how they remember the deceased. In the present study ( N  = 164), we investigated whether the time since the loss - recent or distant - was associated with individuals' bereavement, attitudes toward death, and their meaning of death. We found that individuals who experienced a recent loss reported more grief and more negative death attitudes compared to individuals who experienced a loss more than 5 years ago. Moreover, the bereavement appeared to completely mediate the time since the loss and the individuals' attitudes about death. The findings suggest that time-dependent adaptations after a loss shifts individuals' death attitudes, grief symptoms, and thoughts about death.