THE RELATIONSHIP OF DEPRESSION AND TYPE OF BEREAVEMENT, MODE OF DEATH, AND TIME SINCE DEATH IN THREE GROUPS OF ADULT FEMALES (WOMEN).
Contributors: Adelphi University.
Published: 1991
Number of pages: 227
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Psychology, Clinical.
Description: Loss is a major stressful life event and grief is viewed as a complex process that allows the bereaved time to cope with the loss. Evidence suggests that many bereaved individuals develop an unresolved grief reaction characterized by unaccountable depression. This study examined the differences in levels of depression in three groups of bereaved women who had suffered the loss of a loved one within the previous two years.

Research studies have focused on loss of a spouse or loss of a child, and few studies have involved large comparative samples. Since unexpected losses are more difficult to resolve, it was hypothesized that women bereaved of a child would have higher levels of depression than women bereaved of a spouse or a parent, and those with an unanticipated or sudden loss (defined as a forewarning of under 14 days) would have higher levels of depression than those with an anticipated loss. In addition, it was hypothesized that depression would decrease over time and there would be a significant interaction effect between these variables.

Two hundred fifty five women between the ages of 30 and 65 agreed to participate in the study. The sample included 117 bereaved spouses, 58 bereaved mothers, and 80 bereaved adult daughters. Subjects were members of bereavement counselling or support groups or were affiliated with a hospice or terminal care provider. Depression was measured by the Beck Depression Inventory-Short Form (Beck & Beamesdorfer, 1974), which was found to have a reliability coefficient of.88. Analysis of variance techniques were used to analyze the data.

One of the four hypotheses was supported. Bereaved mothers had significantly (p $<$.001) higher levels of depression than bereaved spouses and bereaved adult daughters. Those bereaved of an unanticipated loss did not have significantly higher levels of depression than those bereaved of an anticipated loss. Bereaved mothers had higher, but not significant, levels of depression with an unanticipated loss than with an anticipated loss.

There was no support for the hypothesis that depression would decrease over the two year time span. The results indicated a trend for a decrease in depression during the first year of bereavement with a rise during the second year. Scores for bereaved mothers indicated that depression increased steadily during the two years, while those for bereaved spouses steadily decreased during the two years. There was also no support for the interactive hypothesis.

Additional findings indicated that perceived coping ability accounted for the largest significant variance in depression in the total sample and in each of the three groups. Sadness was the most commonly identified component of depression, and was significantly higher for bereaved mothers than the other two groups.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-03, Section: B, page: 1353.

Thesis (PH.D.)--ADELPHI UNIVERSITY, 1991.

School code: 0001.