Is COVID-19 loss more associated with prolonged grief disorder than other losses?

İNCİ F., Varol B., Kamisli S., Terzioglu C., Bagcaz A., KILIÇ C.

DEATH STUDIES, 2024 (SSCI) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Basım Tarihi: 2024
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1080/07481187.2024.2406343
  • Dergi Adı: DEATH STUDIES
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, Periodicals Index Online, Abstracts in Social Gerontology, CINAHL, EBSCO Education Source, Education Abstracts, Educational research abstracts (ERA), EMBASE, MEDLINE, Psycinfo, Religion and Philosophy Collection, Social services abstracts, Sociological abstracts, Violence & Abuse Abstracts
  • Hacettepe Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

The COVID-19 pandemic raised fears about a rise in prolonged grief rates. To determine if these fears are justified, we examined an online sample of 329 Turkish adults for their level of prolonged grief symptoms (as well as probable Prolonged Grief Disorder-PGD) and associated factors in relation to losses during the pandemic. Respondents completed measures of prolonged grief, post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression. Overall, 10% of participants reported symptoms indicating a probable PGD diagnosis. Surprisingly, loss due to COVID-19 or disruption of the natural mourning process did not relate to higher levels of prolonged grief. Our findings suggest that although levels of prolonged grief (and rates of PGD) may have increased during the pandemic, prolonged grief (or PGD) during this time is likely not linked to losses due to COVID-19 or to disruptions in the normal grieving process.