Researchers from the CIMCYC, members of the Psychosocial and Transcultural Aspects of Health and Disease research group at the UGR, in collaboration with the University of Alicante, have studied some of the predictors of grief symptomatology in individuals who lost a loved one during the pandemic.
A longitudinal study was conducted with a 6-month follow-up, examining various groups of variables, including sociodemographic characteristics, circumstances of the loss, indicators of psychopathology, post-traumatic growth and resilience.
A total of 126 bereaved persons who had lost a loved one during the pandemic participated (8 had lost a child, 43 a parent, 7 a sibling, 45 a grandparent and 23 another loved one). The results showed the importance of sociodemographic variables (age of the deceased), as well as traumatic aspects (post-traumatic stress symptoms and centrality of the event) in predicting prolonged bereavement symptoms 6 months later.
About post-traumatic stress, deaths occurring during the pandemic context could have been processed more traumatically for the bereaved due to factors such as images of patient isolation, the use of machines and respirators and depersonalization due to the protective elements used for contagion avoidance.
The results of this study highlight some clinical implications. In this sense, they enable us to highlight the importance of addressing other psychopathological variables in conjunction with the specific symptomatology of loss.
It is essential to recognize the importance of the impact of loss, both in a traumatic sense and at the level of identity.
About post-traumatic stress symptomatology, great therapeutic benefits could be obtained in addition to the usual treatment for bereavement symptomatology. For example, psychoeducation on reactions to trauma, strategies to manage physiological arousal and flashbacks, imaginal and experiential exposure to traumatic memories related to the broader context of the loss and alternatives to overcome avoidance strategies.
Regarding work on the concept of identity and the elaboration of meaning after death, it is essential to review the person's personal history to develop a new narrative that incorporates the loss as part of it, thereby preventing the risk of disintegration or restriction of self-identity and focusing it in directions that foster constructive growth.
This work is part of Project PID2020-119063RB-I00, funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033.
Reference
Redondo-Armenteros, A., Pérez-Marfil, M. N., Fernández-Alcántara, M., Escribano, S., Martín-Rodríguez, J. L., & Cruz-Quintana, F. (2025). Sociodemographic and emotional variables in individuals experiencing grief: a longitudinal study. Current Psychology, 44(10), 8448-8457.
Contacto
Andrea Redondo Armenteros - @email