Like most human behavior, the writing of this book was motivated by a multiplicity of goals. First, we wished to stress the interpersonal nature of bereavement and the coping process. In the past, coping with bereavement has been considered an intrapersonal phenomenon, yet interpersonal relationships are likely to be critical, not only as determinants of the intensity of symptoms and duration of grief, but also of the ultimate outcome of bereavement. Second, our aim is to provide a theoretical perspective for bereavement research. Since much research has been generated by clinicians with a concern for alleviating problems and symptoms, emphasis has been on issues rather than theory. We therefore review theories of relevance to bereavement, and develop our own, the deficit model, in the following pages. A third objective is to provide a comprehensive review of empirical research on bereavement. Bereavement is a topic to which contributions have been made from diverse disciplines, including public health, epidemiology, sociology, and psychiatry. We have attempted to integrate this research from different areas in the present volume. Fourth, a basic concern is to provide methodological guidelines for bereavement research. Over the past two decades, a vast amount of research on bereavement has appeared in the journals and in books. There has been very little written, however, on basic principles of research design for the area of bereavement. Thus, detailed discussion is given to methodological issues, and empirical studies are carefully examined with regard to the validity of their inferences.