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Risk Factors for Bereavement Outcomes: A Multivariate Approach

Authors:
van der Houwen, Karolijne
Stroebe, Margaret
Stroebe, Wolfgang
Schut, Wolfgang
Schut, Henk
Van den Bout, Jan
Wijngaards-De Meij, Leoniek

Source:
Death Studies: 2010, 34(3), pp. 195-220.

Summary

The authors conducted a longitudinal study with 195 participants over six months to identify risk factors associated with poor bereavement outcomes. The researchers gathered data related to grief symptoms, depressive symptoms, positive affect, emotional loneliness, and a wide variety of risk factors. The results showed that different risk factors have different relationships to the different outcome measurements; grief and depressive symptoms, for example, were predicted by different variables. For grief outcomes, unexpected death, neuroticism, and attachment issues were associated with poorer outcomes, and social support was associated with better outcomes. Cause of death (suicide, accident, and homicide), kinship relationship, and spirituality were not found to be predictive of differential outcomes. The authors note that many of the research participants were also participants in support groups and thus may not be representative of other bereaved individuals.

Service Provider Implications

Service providers may benefit from being familiar with risk factors that may predict poorer bereavement outcomes. Although many of the risk factors cannot be readily changed, the evidence for the positive impact of social support implies that this is an important element to incorporate into interventions.    

Key Words:  risk factors, social support, outcomes