The purpose of this study was to identify the level of grief experience, family hardiness and family resource for management after bereavement of a family member. The subjects of this study were 100 family members who had lost a family member from cancer within the past two years. The data was analyzed using the SPSS program for descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Duncan test, and Pearson correlation. The results were as follows. 1. The mean score for the level of grief was 2.84 +/- 0.66. The mean score for the a family hardiness was 3.08 +/- 0.39. The mean score for the level of family resource management was 2.70 +/- 0.35. 2. The level of grief experience differed according to respondent's age was F=2.95, p=.02, and type of bereavement was t=2.01, p=.04. 3. The level of family hardiness was not significantly different according to respondent's and familial characteristics. 4. The level of family resource management differed according to monthly income of the family (F=3.98, p=.01). 5. There were negative correlations between grief experience and family hardiness (r= -.551, p<.001), grief experience and family resource for management (r=-.351, p<.001). Family hardiness was positively related with family resource for management (r=.709, p<.001). In conclusion, family hardiness and family resource management were identified as important variables that contributed to reduce the grief experience. Therefore, it is important to develop nursing intervention that enhances family hardiness and family resource for management for bereaved family.
Bereavement* ; Grief* ; Humans ; Nursing

BACKGROUND: While complicated grief can lead to adverse health outcomes, social support has been shown to be an important protective factor of its negative effects. The present study investigated the relationship between social support including satisfaction with support, received support, and negative interactions and complicated grief in the transitional context from caregiving to bereavement. METHODS: Bereaved caregivers (n=221) who participated in a multi-site study of dementia caregiving were assessed for complicated grief. Social support measured before and after death were used to examine the longitudinal associations among social support and complicated grief. RESULTS: We found that caregivers reporting greater increase in satisfaction with social support were likely to experience lower levels of complicated grief, while the amount of received social support did not significantly impact complicated grief. Negative social interaction was significantly associated with the level of complicated grief after the death of the care recipient. CONCLUSIONS: The relationship between social support and complicated grief suggests that satisfaction with social support may be associated with lower levels of complicated grief. Study findings point to the importance of the type of social support for reducing the level of complicated grief.
Bereavement ; Caregivers* ; Dementia* ; Grief* ; Humans ; Interpersonal Relations

BACKGROUND: While complicated grief can lead to adverse health outcomes, social support has been shown to be an important protective factor of its negative effects. The present study investigated the relationship between social support including satisfaction with support, received support, and negative interactions and complicated grief in the transitional context from caregiving to bereavement. METHODS: Bereaved caregivers (n=221) who participated in a multi-site study of dementia caregiving were assessed for complicated grief. Social support measured before and after death were used to examine the longitudinal associations among social support and complicated grief. RESULTS: We found that caregivers reporting greater increase in satisfaction with social support were likely to experience lower levels of complicated grief, while the amount of received social support did not significantly impact complicated grief. Negative social interaction was significantly associated with the level of complicated grief after the death of the care recipient. CONCLUSIONS: The relationship between social support and complicated grief suggests that satisfaction with social support may be associated with lower levels of complicated grief. Study findings point to the importance of the type of social support for reducing the level of complicated grief.
Bereavement ; Caregivers* ; Dementia* ; Grief* ; Humans ; Interpersonal Relations

BACKGROUND: While complicated grief can lead to adverse health outcomes, social support has been shown to be an important protective factor of its negative effects. The present study investigated the relationship between social support including satisfaction with support, received support, and negative interactions and complicated grief in the transitional context from caregiving to bereavement. METHODS: Bereaved caregivers (n=221) who participated in a multi-site study of dementia caregiving were assessed for complicated grief. Social support measured before and after death were used to examine the longitudinal associations among social support and complicated grief. RESULTS: We found that caregivers reporting greater increase in satisfaction with social support were likely to experience lower levels of complicated grief, while the amount of received social support did not significantly impact complicated grief. Negative social interaction was significantly associated with the level of complicated grief after the death of the care recipient. CONCLUSIONS: The relationship between social support and complicated grief suggests that satisfaction with social support may be associated with lower levels of complicated grief. Study findings point to the importance of the type of social support for reducing the level of complicated grief.
Bereavement ; Caregivers ; Dementia ; Grief ; Humans ; Interpersonal Relations

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of bereavement for main family members who had made and followed DNR decision for their family members. METHOD: This qualitative study was based on a grounded theory, and used in-depth interview techniques with the bereaved 10 main family members who had been treated and died under DNR order. RESULTS: The causal condition of the family member was 'Releasing', and the main consequent phenomenon were 'Blaming self and ruminating'. The contextual condition was 'The memory of the deceased'. The action/reaction strategy was 'Purifying'. The intervening condition was 'Supporting system', and the consequence was 'Acceptance'. The experience after bereavement of the family member on DNR decision were rational processes that purified themselves and healed the guilt feeling about the decision from reflective assessment and response about DNR decision. Based on this results, the substantive theory 'Reflective self healing' was derived. CONCLUSION: The main family members in following DNR decision are more likely to have unhealthy emotional condition than others in normal bereavement process. But they overcame the grief of bereavement through reflective self healing process.
Bereavement ; Grief ; Guilt ; Humans ; Memory ; Qualitative Research ; Resuscitation Orders

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate variables and construct paths that affect complicated grief. METHODS: Participants in this cross-sectional, descriptive study were 164 bereaved spouses of cancer patients at least 12 months before the death. Data were collected from October 2016 to February 2017 using self-report structured questionnaires and were analyzed using IBM SPSS 21.0 and AMOS 20.0. RESULTS: The variables affecting complicated grief of bereaved spouses of cancer patients were the quality of end-of-life care (γ=.15, p < .001), preparedness for death (β=−.06, p=.005), and coping with bereavement (β=−.24, p < .001), whereas the quality of death and dying did not show any effects. Preparedness for death had multiple mediating effects in the relationship between the quality of end-of-life care and complicated grief (z=−2.20, p=.028), and in the relationship between the quality of end-of-life care and coping with bereavement (z=2.11, p=.035). Coping with bereavement had a mediating effect on the relationship between preparedness for death and complicated grief (z=−2.39, p=.017). CONCLUSION: This study revealed that preparedness for death and coping with bereavement play a prominent role in complicated grief. Therefore, it is important to help in preparing for death and enhancing coping with bereavement of spouses providing end-of-life care to cancer patients. In addition, investigating cultural differences in the relationship between the quality of end-of-life care and complicated grief is recommended.
Bereavement ; Grief ; Humans ; Negotiating ; Palliative Care ; Spouses ; Terminal Care

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to identify factors influencing on the mental health in bereaved adults. METHODS: A descriptive and correlational study was conducted in 160 adults who had experienced bereavement. The collected data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation, and hierarchical multiple linear regression analyses with SPSS 26.0. RESULTS: The participants' mental health showed a positive correlation with complicated grief (r=.31, p<.001) and a negative correlation with grief and meaning reconstruction (r=−.30, p<.001). Sex, sleeping time, intimacy with the deceased, grief reaction, and grief and meaning reconstruction were significant factors influencing on the mental health. The total explanatory power of these variables was 31.8%. CONCLUSION: It is necessary to explore the persistent and impairing grief after experiencing bereavement. Our study findings will be fundamental evidence to develop nursing interventions to improve adult mental health dealing with bereavement and grief.
Adult ; Bereavement ; Grief ; Humans ; Linear Models ; Mental Health ; Nursing

OBJECTIVE: After the Sewol ferry disaster, bereavement with suicidal ideation was a critical mental health problem that was accompanied by various neuropsychological symptoms. This study examined the frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA), heart rate variability (HRV), and several psychological symptoms in bereaved family members (BFM) after the Sewol ferry disaster. METHODS: Eighty-three BFM after the Sewol ferry disaster were recruited. We assessed FAA, HRV, and psychological symptoms, including depression, post-traumatic stress, post-traumatic growth factor, anxiety, grief, and positive resources, between BFM with the presence and absence of current suicidal ideation. RESULTS: Compared to BFM without suicidal ideation, BFM with suicidal ideation showed a higher FAA with right dominance. Significant differences in psychological symptoms were observed between the groups. In BFM with suicidal ideation, the low: high frequency (LF:HF) ratio correlated with social resources and support. CONCLUSION: The FAA and LF:HF ratio may be biomarkers that represent the pathological conditions of BFM with suicidal ideation. If researched further, they may shed light on the interaction between bereavement with suicidal ideation and social resources for therapeutic intervention.
Anxiety ; Bereavement ; Biomarkers ; Depression ; Disasters* ; Grief ; Heart Rate* ; Heart* ; Humans ; Mental Health ; Suicidal Ideation*

The purpose of this study is to seek the nursing intervention for the elderly people's positive lives by investigating the causes for their loss and its meanings. The method of this research derives from a phenomenological tool as a qualitative research design. The data collection had been performed from February, 2001 until August, 2001 through systematic interviews and participatory observations of six elderly people (4 elderly women and 2 elderly men) residing in downtown Seoul. It took one and a half hour for each interview arranged five times. The analysis of this research is based upon Giorgi method and the research results on the causes for elderly people's sense of loss and its meaning are as follows. 1) bitter disappointment of family members : unfaithful children, husband's infidelity, conflict with daughter-inlaw, economic hardships. 2) bereavement : loss of spouse or children, a sense of one's own mortality. 3) regret for the past : sorrowful things, unfair treatment, a sense of resentment, a sense of futility, a feeling of helplessness, despair, resignation. 4) unpleasant memories of others : hurt of self-esteem, hostile feelings aroused by betrayal or distrust. 5) grief of lost youth : loss of health, hard married life, unlucky fate. 6) sense of another superable life : regret, awareness, maturity through suffering. As a person ages, the number of deaths of close friends and family members usually increases. The occurrence of such multiple losses can cause the elderly to become overwhelmed by the events. Care givers need to be sensitive to these losses and need to be aware that the elderly can experience an overload of grief. Counselling can often be useful in helping them to come to terms with such multiple losses.
Adolescent ; Aged* ; Bereavement ; Caregivers ; Child ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Female ; Friends ; Grief ; Humans ; Medical Futility ; Mortality ; Nursing ; Qualitative Research ; Seoul ; Spouses

Few studies have assessed the overall effects of multi-centered, complicated mental health support on the grief process. This study investigated the broader influence of mental health support provided practically to the bereaved family on the severity of complicated grief. Ninety-three bereaved family members of the Sewol ferry accident were recruited. Severity of complicated grief, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depressive disorder was assessed through self-reporting questionnaire, inventory of complicated grief (ICG), PTSD Check List-5 (PCL-5) and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). We also included demographic, socioeconomic, health-related variables, and Functional Social Support Questionnaire (FSSQ), which affect the ICG score. Participants were divided into 4 groups based on the experience of psychotherapy or psychiatry clinic service before the accident and mental health support after the disaster. In univariate analysis, these 4 groups showed a significant difference in the mean ICG score (P = 0.020). Participants who received mental health support only after the Sewol ferry accident (group 2) showed a lower mean ICG score than those who received neither psychotherapy or psychiatry clinic service before the disaster nor mental health support after the accident (group 4). There was no significant correlation between the ICG score and other variables except for subjective health status measured 1 month after the disaster (P = 0.005). There was no significant difference in PCL-5 (P = 0.140) and PHQ-9 scores (P = 0.603) among groups, respectively. In conclusion, mental health support significantly reduced the severity of grief only in those participants who had not received any psychotherapy or psychiatry clinic service before the accident.
Bereavement ; Depressive Disorder ; Diagnostic Self Evaluation ; Disasters ; Grief* ; Humans ; Mental Health Services ; Mental Health* ; Psychotherapy ; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic