Grief

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Distribution within Medical Sciences

Kinds of Grief

  • complicated grief

  • Terms modified by Grief

  • grief reaction

  • Selected Abstracts


    ENTERING THE WRECKAGE: GRIEF AND HOPE IN JEREMIAH, AND THE RESCRIPTING OF THE PASTORAL VOCATION IN A TIME OF GEOPOLITICAL CRISIS

    INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF MISSION, Issue 365 2003
    Chris William Erdman
    First page of article [source]


    Families and children with hearing loss: Grief and coping

    DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES RESEARCH REVIEW, Issue 4 2003
    Ellen Kurtzer-White
    Abstract Parental coping with the diagnosis of their child's hearing impairment has not received a great deal of research attention, despite the evident importance of it. Parental coping has been changing with the inception of newborn screening as we move from a parent-initiated model of diagnosis to an institution-initiated model. Coping now begins without any preparation, and without any time for parents to "enjoy" their child as "normal." The grief models, based on the death experience, usually employed to describe parental reactions to the diagnosis may also be inappropriate. Death grief is terminable whereas parental grief is chronic. There is not sufficient research on the long-term effects of chronic grief and how that impacts on parent-child bonding. There is evidence that our screening endeavors have far outstripped our habilitation efforts, leaving parents with a diagnosis but without support. This gap must be closed. MRDD Research Reviews 2003;9:232,235. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


    Waorani Grief and the Witch-Killer's Rage: Worldview, Emotion, and Anthropological Explanation

    ETHOS, Issue 2 2005
    CLAYTON ROBARCHEK
    This article analyzes a complex of grief, rage and homicide among the Ecuadorian Waorani, tracing the relationships among worldview, values and concepts of self, and envy, rage and homicide, especially witch-killing. We contrast the results with the position taken by Rosaldo in his widely cited paper "Grief and the Headhunters Rage" (1989). We hold that Waorani individuals' experience of rage during bereavement is not, as argued by Rosaldo for the Ilongot, a thing sui generis, immune to further explanation. Rather, it is explained as a product of people defining their experience on the basis of cultural constructions of self and reality and acting in accord with those definitions. We also argue that this explanation, coupled with the similarities in the Waorani and Ilongot complexes, suggests the operation of similar sociocultural and psychological processes in the two societies and supports, contra the assertions of postmodernists and others, the continued value and validity of cross-cultural comparative research. [source]


    ,Aus Blut und Schmerz geboren': Maternal Grief and the Poetry of Frida Bettingen

    GERMAN LIFE AND LETTERS, Issue 3 2008
    Catherine Smale
    ABSTRACT This article analyses the impact of maternal grief on the literary creativity of the Expressionist poet Frida Bettingen (1865,1924). Examining the depiction of maternal love which emerges in Bettingen's later poems and her ambivalent attitude towards writing as a form of therapy, it argues that her verse offers an alternative to the responses to loss outlined by Freud in his essay on mourning and melancholia. Finally, the article explores the ways in which Bettingen's ambivalence leads her to experiment with the poetic medium. She engages with and adapts contemporary discourses in order to situate her grief within the collective response to the losses of the First World War whilst still retaining a sense of the private significance of her son's death. [source]


    The development and initial validation of the Terminally Ill Grief or Depression Scale (TIGDS)

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF METHODS IN PSYCHIATRIC RESEARCH, Issue 4 2005
    Vyjeyanthi S. Periyakoil
    Abstract Patients often experience ,preparatory-grief' as they cope with the dying process. Some may be depressed. The Terminally Ill Grief or Depression Scale (TIGDS), comprising grief and depression sub-scales, is a new self-report measure designed to differentiate between preparatory-grief and depression in adult inpatients. The initial 100-item inventory was assembled based on literature review, interviews with clinicians and dying patients and then shortened to 42 items based on consensus expert opinion. Validity and reliability were tested in a sample of 55 terminally ill adults. The consensus clinical opinion was used as the gold standard to differentiate between preparatory grief and depression. The intra-class correlation coefficient was high (it was calculated to estimate the test-retest reliability for the 47 patients who had completed the TIGDS twice , retest was administered 2 to 7 days after the initial test), ranging from 0.86 (grief) to 0.97 (depression). The validity of TIGDS was assessed using a receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, comparing the first test with the clinical criterion. The first and only variable and cut-point was the depression score (chi-square = 18.4,p < 0.001, cut point = 3). The sensitivity of the TIGDS was 0.727 and specificity was 0.886 for the depression = 3 cutoff score. The construct validity of the TIGDS was tested by comparing with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). The TIGDS depression subscale showed strong convergent validity and the TIGDS grief subscale showed strong discriminant validity with the HADS total score. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


    Predictors of grief following the death of one's child: the contribution of finding meaning,

    JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 10 2008
    Nancy J. Keesee
    Abstract This study examined the relative contribution of objective risk factors and meaning-making to grief severity among 157 parents who had lost a child to death. Participants completed the Core Bereavement Items (CBI; Burnett, Middleton, Raphael, & Martinek, 1997), Inventory of Complicated Grief (ICG; Prigerson et al., 1995), questions assessing the process and degree of sense-making and benefit-finding, and the circumstances surrounding their losses. Results showed that the violence of the death, age of the child at death, and length of bereavement accounted for significant differences in normative grief symptoms (assessed by the CBI). Other results indicated that the cause of death was the only objective risk factor that significantly predicted the intensity of complicated grief (assessed by the ICG). Of the factors examined in this study, sense-making emerged as the most salient predictor of grief severity, with parents who reported having made little to no sense of their child's death being more likely to report greater intensity of grief. Implications for clinical work are discussed. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 64:1,19, 2008. [source]


    Grief, Anxiety, Stillbirth, and Perinatal Problems: Healing With Kangaroo Care

    JOURNAL OF OBSTETRIC, GYNECOLOGIC & NEONATAL NURSING, Issue 6 2004
    CD(DONA), IBCLC, Maria D. Burkhammer RN
    A young, anxious mother's first pregnancy was eclamptic, her placenta was underperfused, and her son was stillborn. She carried grief, guilt, anxiety, and hypervigilance into her next preeclamptic pregnancy, birth (of her small-for-dates son), and early postpartum period. When breastfeeding difficulties developed, the authors intervened with three consecutive (skin-to-skin) breastfeedings. During the first skin-to-skin breastfeeding, the mother stopped crying, shared self-disparaging emotions, and then began relaxing and "taking-in" her new baby. Breastfeeding continues at 1 year. [source]


    Perceptions of Death and Management of Grief in People with Intellectual Disability

    JOURNAL OF POLICY AND PRACTICE IN INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES, Issue 2 2006
    Rianne Meeusen-van de Kerkhof
    Abstract, The authors examine the way in which people with intellectual disability (ID) handle death and mourning, and note that the way in which death and bereavement are being experienced depends , among other things , upon the intellectual and socio-emotional age of the individual. The authors used the theories formulated by Piaget (cognitive development), Do,en (socio-emotional development), Timmers-Huigens (strategies of ordering experience), and Fowler (stages of faith) to frame an explanation of how people with ID perceive and experience death. This ranges from hardly any understanding (among persons with profound ID) to a clear realization (among persons with mild ID) of death. Within this framework, the authors offer suggestions and tools for counselors that can be used to help people with ID to manage grief, contingent on their degree of emotional-cognitive-social development (e.g., offering closeness and physical contact, using specific rituals, making use of stories and photographs, and allowing participation in farewell rituals). [source]


    Are normal and complicated grief different constructs?

    CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOTHERAPY (AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THEORY & PRACTICE), Issue 6 2008
    A confirmatory factor analytic test
    Nowadays, much debate in the bereavement domain is directed towards the inclusion of Complicated Grief (CG) as a separate category in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Important within this discussion is the conceptual relationship between CG reactions and normal grief (NG) reactions. This study aims at elucidating this relationship by using data from 456 bereaved young adults, aged 17 to 25 years. We examined the structural distinctiveness of CG and NG reactions, using two criteria sets. The first set ties in with previous research in bereaved adults on the distinctiveness of CG and NG and allows to test the replicability of earlier findings. The second set links up with the recently revised criteria for CG and permits to investigate whether earlier findings hold for the new criteria. For both sets, two models for NG and CG were compared using confirmatory factor analytic procedures. These analyses revealed that CG and NG reactions can be distinguished by their very nature, except for one CG reaction (viz. ,yearning'), that loaded on both factors.,Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


    Is Complicated Grief a Valid Construct?

    CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY: SCIENCE AND PRACTICE, Issue 2 2006
    George A. Bonanno
    Important progress has been made in conceptualizing and demonstrating effective interventions for complicated grief (CG). The author argues, however, that the CG construct is still poorly understood, and that there remain several important but unanswered questions about the construct's basic validity. Recent research is reviewed that provides preliminary evidence for the CG's incremental validity over other forms of grief-related psychopathology. However, further evidence of incremental validity is still needed. Several prospective studies are also reviewed that support the discriminant validity of CG in relation to more enduring depressive symptoms. However, most studies of CG have failed to make this distinction and have tended to confound CG with longer-term depressive states. The author argues that future research on CG, including intervention studies, needs to allot greater attention to these validity issues. [source]


    Understanding and Treating Complicated Grief: What Can We Learn from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder?

    CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY: SCIENCE AND PRACTICE, Issue 2 2006
    Anke Ehlers
    The article outlines possible parallels between the phenomenology and treatment of complicated grief (CG) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In particular, it explores how treatment procedures used in Cognitive Therapy for PTSD (Ehlers & Clark, 2000) may be adapted for the treatment of CG. Stimulus Discrimination may be helpful in breaking the link between everyday triggers and "felt presence" memories of the deceased. Memory Updating procedures may help the patient accept that the deceased is no longer alive and no longer suffering. Reclaiming your Life procedures may help the patient access autobiographical memories that are not linked to the deceased and counteract beliefs about the value of life without the deceased. The article further addresses the necessity of specifying the idiosyncratic beliefs that prevent coming to terms with the death, of understanding the relationship between beliefs and coping strategies, and of distinguishing memories from rumination. [source]


    Is ,Normal Grief' a Mental Disorder?

    THE PHILOSOPHICAL QUARTERLY, Issue 200 2000
    Stephen Wilkinson
    I argue that grief (including ,normal grief') is a mental disorder. I discuss the main concepts involved briefly, and state the prima facie case in favour of the view that grief is a disorder. I consider objections that grief is not a disorder because (a) it is a normal response; (b) it is more healthy than failing to grieve; (c) it involves cognitive good; (d) it is a rational response; (e) it ought not to be medicalized or treated; (f ) it has a ,distinct sustaining cause'. Each objection is flawed, and I conclude that there is a strong case for regarding even ,normal' grief as a disorder. Alternatively, the arguments in this paper may be taken as attacking ,orthodoxrsquo; definitions of mental health (e.g., in DSM 4th edn) by providing an extended discussion of one particular counter-example. [source]


    Families and children with hearing loss: Grief and coping

    DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES RESEARCH REVIEW, Issue 4 2003
    Ellen Kurtzer-White
    Abstract Parental coping with the diagnosis of their child's hearing impairment has not received a great deal of research attention, despite the evident importance of it. Parental coping has been changing with the inception of newborn screening as we move from a parent-initiated model of diagnosis to an institution-initiated model. Coping now begins without any preparation, and without any time for parents to "enjoy" their child as "normal." The grief models, based on the death experience, usually employed to describe parental reactions to the diagnosis may also be inappropriate. Death grief is terminable whereas parental grief is chronic. There is not sufficient research on the long-term effects of chronic grief and how that impacts on parent-child bonding. There is evidence that our screening endeavors have far outstripped our habilitation efforts, leaving parents with a diagnosis but without support. This gap must be closed. MRDD Research Reviews 2003;9:232,235. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


    Waorani Grief and the Witch-Killer's Rage: Worldview, Emotion, and Anthropological Explanation

    ETHOS, Issue 2 2005
    CLAYTON ROBARCHEK
    This article analyzes a complex of grief, rage and homicide among the Ecuadorian Waorani, tracing the relationships among worldview, values and concepts of self, and envy, rage and homicide, especially witch-killing. We contrast the results with the position taken by Rosaldo in his widely cited paper "Grief and the Headhunters Rage" (1989). We hold that Waorani individuals' experience of rage during bereavement is not, as argued by Rosaldo for the Ilongot, a thing sui generis, immune to further explanation. Rather, it is explained as a product of people defining their experience on the basis of cultural constructions of self and reality and acting in accord with those definitions. We also argue that this explanation, coupled with the similarities in the Waorani and Ilongot complexes, suggests the operation of similar sociocultural and psychological processes in the two societies and supports, contra the assertions of postmodernists and others, the continued value and validity of cross-cultural comparative research. [source]


    The Last Will and Testament in Literature: Rupture, Rivalry, and Sometimes Rapprochement from Middlemarch to Lemony Snicket

    FAMILY PROCESS, Issue 4 2008
    ELIZABETH STONE
    Although the psychological literature on the last will and testament is sparse, authors of fiction and memoir have filled the gap, writing in rich detail about the impact of wills on families. Henry James, George Eliot, J. R. Ackerley, and others reveal that a will is not only a legal document but a microcosm of family life: a coded and nonnegotiable message from the will's writer to its intended readers, the heirs, delivered at a stressful time and driving home the truth that options for discussion between testator and heirs are now gone, all factors which may intensify the ambivalence of grief and stall its resolution. Among the problems the authors chronicle: reinvigorated sibling rivalries, vindictive testators, and the revelation of traumatic family secrets. Writers also demonstrate how contemporary social factors, such as divorce, second families, and geographic distance between family members, may complicate wills and ensuing family relations. Exemplary wills, or will-like documents, appear in fiction by Maria Katzenbach and Marilynne Robinson, allowing the living to make rapprochements with the dead, and pointing to testamentary strategies clinicians might develop to lead to a resolution of grief. The depth of these writers' accounts allows clinicians to imagine points at which they might productively intervene in matters pertaining to a will. RESUMEN Aunque la literatura psicológica sobre la última voluntad y el testamento es escasa, los autores de ficción y de memorias han llenado ese vación, escribiendo en rico detalle sobre el impacto de los testamentos en las familias. Henry James, George Eliot, J.R. Ackerley y otros, revelan que un testamento no es sólo un documento legal, sino un microcosmos de vida familiar: un mensaje codificado y no negociable de la voluntad de quien lo escribe a sus destinatarios, los herederos, enviado en un momento estresante y haciendo obvio el hecho de que las posibilidades de discutir entre el emisor y sus herederos ya no existen. Todos estos factores pueden aumentar la ambivalencia de la pena y demorar su resolución. Entre todos los problemas, los autores relatan: aumento de la rivalidad entre hermanos, testamentos vengativos, y la revelación de secretos de familia traumáticos. Los autores también demuestran cómo los factores sociales contemporáneos, como el divorcio, segundas familias y la distancia geográfica entre miembros de la familia, pueden complicar los testamentos y las relaciones familiares posteriores. Testamentos ejemplarizantes, o documentos con aspecto de testamento, aparecen en los trabajos de ficción de Maria Katzenbach y Marilynne Robinson, permitiendo a los vivos acercarse a los muertos, y señalando estrategias testamentarias que los profesionales de clínica pueden desarrollar con el fin de acabar con la pena. La profundidad de los relatos de estos autores permite a los profesionales de clínica imaginarse puntos en que pueden intervenir de una forma productiva en temas relacionados con testamentos. Palabras clave: última voluntad y testamento, muerte, secretos, Henry James, George Eliot, Marilynne Robinson, J.R. Ackerley, Dorothy Gallagher, Maria Katzenbach [source]


    ,Aus Blut und Schmerz geboren': Maternal Grief and the Poetry of Frida Bettingen

    GERMAN LIFE AND LETTERS, Issue 3 2008
    Catherine Smale
    ABSTRACT This article analyses the impact of maternal grief on the literary creativity of the Expressionist poet Frida Bettingen (1865,1924). Examining the depiction of maternal love which emerges in Bettingen's later poems and her ambivalent attitude towards writing as a form of therapy, it argues that her verse offers an alternative to the responses to loss outlined by Freud in his essay on mourning and melancholia. Finally, the article explores the ways in which Bettingen's ambivalence leads her to experiment with the poetic medium. She engages with and adapts contemporary discourses in order to situate her grief within the collective response to the losses of the First World War whilst still retaining a sense of the private significance of her son's death. [source]


    Providence and Sympathy: Consoling the Bereaved in the Late Eighteenth Century

    GERMAN LIFE AND LETTERS, Issue 3 2006
    Anna Richards
    In the Enlightenment period restrictions were imposed on mourning practices but grief was valued as a sign of natural humanity, as long as it remained moderate. Consolation was offered to the bereaved to help them temper excessive sadness. In the second half of the eighteenth century, influenced by the period's psychological thinking, the theory and the practice of consolation became more secular and more individualised than they had previously been; consolers took the demands of self-interest and of the emotions into account to a greater extent. This meant an emphasis on the role of providence in the death of the loved one and on the need for sympathy. This article discusses the consequences and the challenges of these developments for consolatory texts. It suggests that they called for narrative strategies and concludes that the ,Trostschrift' and the sentimental novel began to occupy some of the same ground at this period. [source]


    Silenced voices: hearing the stories of parents bereaved through the suicide death of a young adult child

    HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE IN THE COMMUNITY, Issue 3 2010
    Myfanwy Maple PhD
    Abstract The current paper reports findings from a qualitative research project that aimed to explore parents' experiences following the suicide death of their young adult child. Twenty-two Australian parents told of the suicide death of their son or daughter during the data collection period (2003 to late 2004). One narrative theme drawn from the interview data is reported here: the way in which suicide-bereaved parents feel unable to talk about their child's life and death, their experience of suicide and their resultant bereavement. Parents reported being silenced by others and silencing themselves in relation to talking about their bereavement. Parents' private stories are used to explain the difficulties they faced given the contemporary social and cultural context of grief and suicide. Then follows an examination of the impact these difficulties had on their ongoing grief narrative and availability of social support. Implications for health and social care intervention are presented to assist in better preparing support workers in their interactions with parents bereaved in this manner. [source]


    Being a parent of an adult son or daughter with severe mental illness receiving professional care: parents' narratives

    HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE IN THE COMMUNITY, Issue 4 2001
    Anita Pejlert RNT PhD
    Abstract The aim of this study was to illuminate the meaning of parental care-giving with reference to having an adult son or daughter with severe mental illness living in a care setting. The parents were asked to narrate their relationship to offspring in the past, in the present, and their thoughts and feelings concerning the future. The study was guided by a phenomenological hermeneutic perspective. The meaning of parental care was illuminated in the themes ,living with sorrow, anguish and constant worry', ,living with guilt and shame', ,relating with carer/care; comfort and hardships',coming to terms with difficulties' and ,hoping for a better life for the adult child'. Parental care-giving emerged as a life-long effort. The narratives revealed ongoing grief, sorrow and losses interpreted as chronic sorrow. The narratives disclosed a cultural conflict between the family system and the care system, which was interpreted as a threat to the parental role, but also experiences of receiving comfort and having confidence in the care given. Experiences of stigma were interpreted from the way of labelling illness, narrated experiences of shame and relations with the public and mental health professionals. Parents' persisting in the care-giving role, striving to look after themselves and expressing hopes for the future were interpreted as a process of coming to terms with difficulties. Results suggest that mental health professionals need to be aware of their own attitudes and treatment of families, improve their cooperation with, and support to families, and provide opportunities for family members to meet one another. [source]


    Reflections on Retelling a Renaissance Murder

    HISTORY AND THEORY, Issue 4 2002
    Thomas V. Cohen
    This mischievously artful essay plays out on several levels; think of them as storeys of an imaginary castle much like the real, solid, central Italian one it explores and expounds. On its own ground floor, the essay recounts a gruesome murder, a noble husband's midnight revenge upon his wife and upon her bastard lover, his own half,brother, in her castle chamber, in bed. In sex. Of course. The murder itself is pure Renaissance, quintessential Boccaccio or Bandello, but the aftermath, in fort and village, is more singular, more ethnographically delightful, as castle and village trace a ceremonious passage from frozen limbo to fluid grief and storytelling, finally set in motion by the arrival of the dead wife's brother. Meanwhile, one flight up, the essay retells my own investigation of the real castle's geometry, as I clambered through rooms, peered out windows, prowled the roof, and scanned blueprints seeking the places of the plotters' plots. In an expository attic, I lodge reflections on my teaching stratagems, as I led a first,year seminar into detection's crafts and exposition's ploys. All the while, on its rooftop, this essay dances among fantastical chimneys and turrets of high theory and literary practice, musing on the patent irony of artful artifice, which evokes both the irony and the pathos of scholars' cool histories about hot deeds and feelings. Art suggests we authors had best hide ourselves, unlike normal essayists, so as not to spoil the show. But, I posit, our self,effacement is so conspicuous that it proclaims our presence, as in fact it should, and, by so doing, trumpets the necessary tensions of our artifice and craft. Thus artfulness itself nicely both proclaims and celebrates the bittersweet frustrations of historians' and readers' quest for knowledge and, especially, for experience of a lost past. [source]


    Life writing in the shadow of the Shoah: fathers and sons in the memoirs of Elie Wiesel and Leon Weliczker Wells

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED PSYCHOANALYTIC STUDIES, Issue 1 2010
    Bertram J. Cohler
    Abstract This paper contrasts the accounts of mourning and the resolution of grief in the aftermath of the Shoah as portrayed in the memoirs of two men Elie Wiesel (1928,) and Leon Weliczker Wells (1925,). Each life writer grew up in an Eastern European shtetl, a traditional community, in which he was immersed in Hasidic culture, and was incarcerated during adolescence in an extermination camp. This paper explores the impact of each life writer's experienced childhood relationship with his father in coping with his losses over the post-war period. Wells' memoir is a factual account of the perfidy of the regime that he witnessed as a member of a Sonderkommando or death brigade in the Janowska extermination camp and kept a journal, later used as evidence for the indictment of the regime at the Eichman trial. Wiesel's acclaimed text Night, and his memoirs, reflect his continuing guilt regarding his father's death while they were together in Auschwitz and Buchenwald. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


    The transitional object in dementia: clinical implications

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED PSYCHOANALYTIC STUDIES, Issue 2 2007
    Sheila LoboPrabhu
    Abstract The concept of the transitional object in human development was first proposed by Winnicott, and it has been extensively discussed in the child psychoanalytic literature. However, there are very few empirical studies on the transitional object in adult development. The transitional object has been discussed in relation to medical illness, medication, aggression, dreams, spirituality and religion, borderline personality disorder, anxiety disorder, fetishes, medication, and body image. There is very little literature on the transitional object in dementia. Dementia is a process of transition from a healthy, active state to a dependent state with progressive loss of memory, functional skills, and independence. Patients and families experience grief, loss, fear, anxiety, guilt, and anger. In this article, we address the role of the transitional object in dementia. We discuss the concepts of the transitional object and precursor object, and their possible role in interventions with patients and caregivers. We discuss various aspects of the therapeutic process and treatment setting, which may serve as transitional objects in various stages of dementia. The therapeutic relationship serves as the "holding environment" in which various transitions may be safely accomplished. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


    The development and initial validation of the Terminally Ill Grief or Depression Scale (TIGDS)

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF METHODS IN PSYCHIATRIC RESEARCH, Issue 4 2005
    Vyjeyanthi S. Periyakoil
    Abstract Patients often experience ,preparatory-grief' as they cope with the dying process. Some may be depressed. The Terminally Ill Grief or Depression Scale (TIGDS), comprising grief and depression sub-scales, is a new self-report measure designed to differentiate between preparatory-grief and depression in adult inpatients. The initial 100-item inventory was assembled based on literature review, interviews with clinicians and dying patients and then shortened to 42 items based on consensus expert opinion. Validity and reliability were tested in a sample of 55 terminally ill adults. The consensus clinical opinion was used as the gold standard to differentiate between preparatory grief and depression. The intra-class correlation coefficient was high (it was calculated to estimate the test-retest reliability for the 47 patients who had completed the TIGDS twice , retest was administered 2 to 7 days after the initial test), ranging from 0.86 (grief) to 0.97 (depression). The validity of TIGDS was assessed using a receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, comparing the first test with the clinical criterion. The first and only variable and cut-point was the depression score (chi-square = 18.4,p < 0.001, cut point = 3). The sensitivity of the TIGDS was 0.727 and specificity was 0.886 for the depression = 3 cutoff score. The construct validity of the TIGDS was tested by comparing with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). The TIGDS depression subscale showed strong convergent validity and the TIGDS grief subscale showed strong discriminant validity with the HADS total score. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


    Anticipatory grieving among parents living with a child with cancer

    JOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 9 2010
    Ekhlas Al-Gamal
    al-gamal e. & long t. (2010) Anticipatory grieving among parents living with a child with cancer. Journal of Advanced Nursing,66(9), 1980,1990. Abstract Aim., This paper is a report of a comparative study of anticipatory grief of parents of children newly diagnosed with cancer and those whose children were diagnosed 6,12 months earlier. Background., Public perceptions of cancer as a fatal illness persist despite improved prognosis for children. Parents may experience feelings of despair, hopelessness, and worthlessness , the most common psychological expressions of anticipatory grief. With a focus on developing more effective therapeutic intervention, healthcare professionals have developed greater interest in the concept of anticipatory grief. Method., One hundred and forty parents, divided between ,newly diagnosed' and ,6,12 months after diagnosis' groups, were recruited in 2006 from two hospitals representative of the healthcare sector in Jordan. Structured interviews were conducted to assess anticipatory grief, using the Marwit and Meuser Caregiver Inventory: Childhood Cancer. Analysis was performed using t -tests. Results., Fewer than half of the parents in both groups reported being at peace with themselves and their situation in life. Parents of newly diagnosed children reported more severe anticipatory grief responses than those in the second group. No statistically significant differences were found in responses between mothers and fathers. Conclusion., Healthcare professionals should encourage parents to discuss negative feelings related to their child's illness and potential outcome. Hospital policies need to include the provision and promotion of support group services for parents, and nurses should encourage parents to exploit such services. [source]


    Chronic sorrow in parents of children with type 1 diabetes

    JOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 5 2009
    Susan Bowes
    Abstract Title.,Chronic sorrow in parents of children with type 1 diabetes. Aim., This paper reports on a study exploring parents' longer-term experiences of having a child with type 1 diabetes. Background., Parents of children with type 1 diabetes may experience a grief reaction at diagnosis similar to that normally associated with bereavement, but little is known about their long-term emotional adaptation. Chronic sorrow, a sustained but intermittent grief reaction, is identified in adults with diabetes but has not previously been explored in relation to parents. Methodology., In-depth interviews were conducted in 2007 with a convenience sample of 17 parents of children with type 1 diabetes 7,10 years after diagnosis. Data were explored within a theoretical framework of grief, loss, adaptation, and change. Findings., Parents had adapted to the needs of diabetes management but most had not ,come to terms' with the diagnosis. They experienced a resurgence of grief at critical times during their child's development and some, particularly mothers, became upset during their interviews, even though these took place 7,10 years after their child's diagnosis. Mothers elaborated more on their emotions than fathers, but continuing feelings associated with grief, such as anger and guilt, were expressed by both fathers and mothers. Conclusion., Greater understanding of parents' long-term emotional responses and recognition that grief may never resolve in these parents may enable healthcare professionals to provide appropriate and timely support at critical times. [source]


    Mothers' grief following the death of a child

    JOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 1 2001
    Hilkka Laakso PhD RN
    Mothers' grief following the death of a child Aim of the study.,Research has shown that caring for a dying child is among the hardest and more demanding tasks in nursing, because the staff are forced to manage their heavy work with inadequate skills and experience. This article deals with the findings of a recent study, the purpose of which was to analyse the mother's grief and coping with grief following the death of a child under the age of 7 years. Design.,Data were collected from mothers using a survey (n=91) and an interview (n=50). As the topic was very sensitive ethically and emotionally, survey data were collected first and the mothers were asked to give their consent to taking part in an interview. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative methods. The data were analysed using statistical methods and content analysis. However, only the qualitative part of the study is presented in this article. Findings.,The findings show that nursing staff had skills to support grieving mothers, but that there were many feelings and experiences of grief that remained unidentified by staff. The staff's ability to meet the mothers' individual needs while the child was in hospital and after the child's death was inadequate. The information received from staff was perceived to be insufficient or offensive to mothers. Conclusions.,The development of basic and further education and of various support measures would enable the staff to better cope with their work. Focusing on interactive skills and meeting the patient's individual needs using reflective practice would improve the quality of care. Communication and collaboration between different occupational groups should be promoted, because mothers were dissatisfied with dissemination of information, and ambiguous responsibilities between different occupational groups hampered the acquisition of information. [source]


    Mental Health Problems in Young People with Intellectual Disabilities: The Impact on Parents

    JOURNAL OF APPLIED RESEARCH IN INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES, Issue 5 2008
    Hannah Faust
    Background, Young people with intellectual disabilities seem to be at increased risk of developing mental health problems. The present study set out to examine the impact such difficulties can have on parents. Method, Semi-structured in-depth interviews were carried out with 13 parents and one adult sibling of 11 young people with intellectual disabilities and additional mental health problems. Results, Parents described far reaching negative consequences of the young person's mental health problems. In many parents these re-evoked intense past feelings of grief and triggered feelings of helplessness and despair. Conclusions, Parents' experiences appear to be characterized by confusion, loss and hardship. Services do not seem to be attuned to the high level of emotional and practical needs of these parents. [source]


    OTHER SIGHTS: Reflections on the Movement

    JOURNAL OF ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION, Issue 3 2003
    ROBERT ALLEN MOHR
    These days,when tourists run from one memorial to the next, checking them off a sightseeing list, displaying appropriate grief,one has to ask: What is the purpose of the memorial? What is its effect when the historical events it memorializes lie beyond personal memory? Does the memorial serve to make history present and alive or does it seal off the past? What if "history" is still the present? How can we make the experience of reviewing history fresh and powerful both intellectually and emotionally, and in a way that might have lasting effect? How can we turn the viewer into a participant and,the ultimate ambition of memorializing projects,effect change within that person?OTHER SIGHTS began as a conversation between myself and Karen Bermann, my faculty adviser, on these issues. [source]


    Cries From the Morgue

    JOURNAL OF CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRIC NURSING, Issue 4 2003
    DF-IAFN, Paul T. Clements PhD
    TOPIC Family member homicide. PURPOSE To explore the unique facets of bereavement for a family member of a homicide victim in order to assist clinicians during assessment, evaluation, and intervention with children. SOURCES The authors' experience in working with children at a child grief center and published literature. CONCLUSIONS Children experience grief uniquely and use differing methods of coping and adaptation. Knowledge of these differences can assist clinicians with promotion of adaptive coping and grieving in children who have been exposed to murder. [source]


    Predictors of grief following the death of one's child: the contribution of finding meaning,

    JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 10 2008
    Nancy J. Keesee
    Abstract This study examined the relative contribution of objective risk factors and meaning-making to grief severity among 157 parents who had lost a child to death. Participants completed the Core Bereavement Items (CBI; Burnett, Middleton, Raphael, & Martinek, 1997), Inventory of Complicated Grief (ICG; Prigerson et al., 1995), questions assessing the process and degree of sense-making and benefit-finding, and the circumstances surrounding their losses. Results showed that the violence of the death, age of the child at death, and length of bereavement accounted for significant differences in normative grief symptoms (assessed by the CBI). Other results indicated that the cause of death was the only objective risk factor that significantly predicted the intensity of complicated grief (assessed by the ICG). Of the factors examined in this study, sense-making emerged as the most salient predictor of grief severity, with parents who reported having made little to no sense of their child's death being more likely to report greater intensity of grief. Implications for clinical work are discussed. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 64:1,19, 2008. [source]