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.
Personal Fear of Death and Grief in Bereaved Mothers
Authors:
Barr, Peter
Cacciatore, Joanne
Source:
Death Studies: 2008. Volume 32, pp. 445-460.
Summary
This article summarized the results of a study to explore the relationship between death anxiety and the intensity of women’s grief after experiencing miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal death, or infant/child death. The Multidimensional Fear of Death Scale (MFODS) was used to measure death anxiety, and the Perinatal Grief Scale (PGS-33) was used to measure intensity of grief. Women were recruited to participate in the study via website, email, and other sources. The responses of 400 women between the ages of 19 and 54 revealed a significant relationship between the women’s fear of death and their level of grief. The authors noted that the study did not provide insight into the direction of causality, and that it is possible that fear of death intensifies grief and also that experiences with grief produce a fear of death.
Key words: anxiety, child, fear, mother, miscarriage, stillbirth, pregnancy
Service Provider Implications
Service providers observing symptoms such as generalized anxiety, agoraphobia, and depression in women who have experienced miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal death, or infant/child death, should recognize that these symptoms may reflect death anxiety.
