The National Archive of Grief Support Studies
The National Archive of Grief Support Studies(NAGSS) database provides bibliographical information and summaries of recent articles selected for their relevance to grief and bereavement service providers. The articles that are summarized are selected from scholarly, peer-reviewed journals and are intended to highlight key concepts as well as provide a brief statement of implications for service providers. Bibliographical information may be used to obtain the original article.
An Empirical Examination of the Stage Theory of Grief
Authors:
Zhang, Baohui
Block, Susan D.
Prigerson, Holly G.
Source:
Journal of the American Medical Association: 2007, 29, pp. 716-723.
Summary
This article describes a study designed to test the magnitude and patterns of change over time of 5 indicators of grief for individuals who had experienced the death of a loved one to natural causes. The researchers used the data from the Yale Bereavement Study to determine the levels of disbelief, yearning, anger, depression, and acceptance of the death experienced by 233 bereaved individuals. The results of the study indicated that the acceptance of the death, not disbelief, was the most frequently identified response. Yearning was the dominant negative indicator of grief. The results confirmed that the peak experiences of the different grief indicators did follow the stage theory, with disbelief peaking at 1 month postloss, yearning peaking at 4 months postloss, anger peaking at 5 months postloss, and depression peaking at 6 months postloss. Acceptance of the death continued to increase throughout the observation period. The authors suggest that individuals scoring high on negative grief indicators beyond 6 months after the death may need to be assessed for grief complications.
Key Words: Yale, disbelief, yearning, anger, depression
Service Provider Implications
Service providers may benefit from awareness that in the case of natural death, the majority of the bereaved experience a decline in negative grief indicators by 6 months after the death. Also, service providers may benefit from knowing that this study indicated that most of the bereaved do experience the following stages of grief during the first six months after experiencing the natural death of a loved one: disbelief, yearning, anger, and depression.
