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Examining the role of trauma, personality, and meaning in young prolonged grievers
Author(s) -
Tomarken Alexis,
Roth Andrew,
Holland Jimmie,
Ganz Ollie,
Schachter Sherry,
Kose Gary,
Ramirez Paul Michael,
Allen Rhian,
Nelson Christian J.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
psycho‐oncology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.41
H-Index - 137
eISSN - 1099-1611
pISSN - 1057-9249
DOI - 10.1002/pon.1983
Subject(s) - grief , traumatic grief , spouse , complicated grief , psychology , personality , clinical psychology , population , disenfranchised grief , meaning (existential) , psychiatry , psychotherapist , medicine , social psychology , environmental health , sociology , anthropology
Purpose Younger spouses or partners have been understudied in the prolonged grief literature. The purpose of this study was to determine rates of prolonged grief in young spouses or partners and the associations between prolonged grief and personality styles (specifically, narcissistic, histrionic, and obsessive), trauma history, and the perceived meaning of the loss in the young conjugally bereaved. Participants and method Participants between 20 and 50 years old who lost a spouse/partner to cancer 6 months–3 years prior to the study completed the following measures during one time point (via phone or in person interviews): Prolonged Grief‐13, Traumatic Life Events Questionnaire, Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory‐III, and Grief Meaning Reconstruction Inventory. Results Fifty‐six spouses and partners (51.8% women) completed the interviews (mean age: 44.54 ± 4.20 years). The participants (49.1%) reported elevated rates of prolonged grief and 12.3% of the participants were diagnosed with prolonged grief with the recently published diagnostic algorithm. Bivariate analyses demonstrated an association between prolonged grief and negative meaning of the loss ( r = 0.73; p < 0.01) and the frequency of the traumatic events ( r = 0.23; p < 0.05). Multivariate analyses revealed that negative meaning of the loss was the only significant predictor of prolonged grief ( Beta = 0.71; p = 0.0001). Conclusion Elevated levels of prolonged grief were found in this population, suggesting a need for further research into young spousal grief. Young bereaved spouses may lack flexibility in reconstructing their view of the world as the death may invalidate their previously held world beliefs. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.