Abstract
Spousal bereavement is closely linked to prolonged grief, that is, significant adjustment symptoms that last for more than six months after the loss. This article focused on potential risk and protective factors that may influence bereavement outcomes. Participants in this study were surviving spouses of individuals who died of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). These participants were themselves living with human immunodeficiency syndrome. In this cross-sectional study, 120 bereaved participants completed measures of grief, quality of dying and death of the deceased, negative conceptions of death resulting from AIDS, death attitudes, and personal resilience. The results showed that one-third (35.0%) of the bereaved participants reported grief levels above the prolonged grief cut-off scores, and can be categorized as the "prolonged grief" group. Although quality of dying and death was not associated with the intensity of grief, negative conceptions of death from AIDS, fear of death and resilience independently predicted grief symptoms in the regression models. Our findings provide insight into the grief process for the surviving spouse of AIDS victims in rural China. Since resilience is malleable, developing resilience interventions to enhance adjustment to bereavement may be a promising direction in grief counselling and therapies.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 441-444 |
| Number of pages | 4 |
| Journal | AIDS Care - Psychological and Socio-Medical Aspects of AIDS/HIV |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Apr 2 2016 |
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Keywords
- AIDS
- conceptions of death
- death attitudes
- HIV
- Prolonged grief
- quality of dying and death
- resilience
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
- Health(social science)
- Social Psychology
Cite this
Resilience and vulnerability : Prolonged grief in the bereaved spouses of marital partners who died of AIDS. / Yu, Nancy Xiaonan; Chan, Cecilia L W; Zhang, Jianxin; Stewart, Sunita M.
In: AIDS Care - Psychological and Socio-Medical Aspects of AIDS/HIV, Vol. 28, No. 4, 02.04.2016, p. 441-444.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Resilience and vulnerability
T2 - Prolonged grief in the bereaved spouses of marital partners who died of AIDS
AU - Yu, Nancy Xiaonan
AU - Chan, Cecilia L W
AU - Zhang, Jianxin
AU - Stewart, Sunita M.
PY - 2016/4/2
Y1 - 2016/4/2
N2 - Spousal bereavement is closely linked to prolonged grief, that is, significant adjustment symptoms that last for more than six months after the loss. This article focused on potential risk and protective factors that may influence bereavement outcomes. Participants in this study were surviving spouses of individuals who died of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). These participants were themselves living with human immunodeficiency syndrome. In this cross-sectional study, 120 bereaved participants completed measures of grief, quality of dying and death of the deceased, negative conceptions of death resulting from AIDS, death attitudes, and personal resilience. The results showed that one-third (35.0%) of the bereaved participants reported grief levels above the prolonged grief cut-off scores, and can be categorized as the "prolonged grief" group. Although quality of dying and death was not associated with the intensity of grief, negative conceptions of death from AIDS, fear of death and resilience independently predicted grief symptoms in the regression models. Our findings provide insight into the grief process for the surviving spouse of AIDS victims in rural China. Since resilience is malleable, developing resilience interventions to enhance adjustment to bereavement may be a promising direction in grief counselling and therapies.
AB - Spousal bereavement is closely linked to prolonged grief, that is, significant adjustment symptoms that last for more than six months after the loss. This article focused on potential risk and protective factors that may influence bereavement outcomes. Participants in this study were surviving spouses of individuals who died of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). These participants were themselves living with human immunodeficiency syndrome. In this cross-sectional study, 120 bereaved participants completed measures of grief, quality of dying and death of the deceased, negative conceptions of death resulting from AIDS, death attitudes, and personal resilience. The results showed that one-third (35.0%) of the bereaved participants reported grief levels above the prolonged grief cut-off scores, and can be categorized as the "prolonged grief" group. Although quality of dying and death was not associated with the intensity of grief, negative conceptions of death from AIDS, fear of death and resilience independently predicted grief symptoms in the regression models. Our findings provide insight into the grief process for the surviving spouse of AIDS victims in rural China. Since resilience is malleable, developing resilience interventions to enhance adjustment to bereavement may be a promising direction in grief counselling and therapies.
KW - AIDS
KW - conceptions of death
KW - death attitudes
KW - HIV
KW - Prolonged grief
KW - quality of dying and death
KW - resilience
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84959194442&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84959194442&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/09540121.2015.1112354
DO - 10.1080/09540121.2015.1112354
M3 - Article
C2 - 26573556
AN - SCOPUS:84959194442
VL - 28
SP - 441
EP - 444
JO - AIDS Care - Psychological and Socio-Medical Aspects of AIDS/HIV
JF - AIDS Care - Psychological and Socio-Medical Aspects of AIDS/HIV
SN - 0954-0121
IS - 4
ER -