Dysfunctional Grief Related to COVID-19 in Latin America

Grief and Posttraumatic Growth in Individuals Who Have Experienced the Death of a Loved One From Six Latin American Countries: The Moderating Role of Gender and Age

This study assessed the relationship between grief and posttraumatic growth (PTG) in 2415 individuals from six Latin American countries, and how the relationship between these variables is moderated by gender and age. The Posttraumatic Growth Inventory-Short Form and Pandemic Grief Scale were used. Moderation analysis utilized Model 2, proposed by Hayes. The findings from the analysis indicate that the proposed regression model is statistically significant in most countries. Gender moderated the relationship between grief and PTG in El Salvador and Peru; meanwhile, age moderated this relationship in Uruguay. The findings support the importance of incorporating gender and age differences into both the theory of grief and PTG and empirical studies investigating these variables in Latin America. Furthermore, mental health professionals should consider gender and age differences when planning interventions aimed at fostering PTG in individuals who have experienced the loss of a loved one in the evaluated countries.

Measurement of Risk Factors Associated With bereavement Severity and Deterioration by COVID-19: A Spanish Validation Study of the Pandemic Grief Risk Factors

The present study translated and evaluated the psychometric evidence of the Pandemic Grief Risk Factors (PGRF) in a sample of 363 people from the general population of Peru who suffered the death of a loved one by COVID-19 (63-4% women and 36.6% men, where 78.5% were between 18 and 29 years old). The findings indicated that the PGRF is a unidimensional and reliable measure. The PGRF items can differentiate between individuals with different levels of risk factors and thus cover a wide range of the latent construct. Also, a greater sense of distress for each of the risk factors for pandemic grief is necessary to answer the higher response categories. Risk factors significantly and positively predict COVID-19-associated dysfunctional grief. The results indicated that the PGRF in Spanish is a measure with adequate psychometric properties to measure risk factors for pandemic grief.

Bereavement due to COVID-19 pandemic among school-going adolescents - A cross-sectional study in district Dehradun

BACKGROUND

Millions of people lost their loved ones due to the COVID-19 pandemic; this dire situation had an impact on almost every aspect of the daily life of every person. However, most of the individuals adapted to their losses nearly 2-10% of the population experienced dysfunctional grief in which adolescents were also affected. Aims and Objectives: Prime objective of the study was to assess dysfunctional grief due to loss from COVID-19 Pandemic among adolescents and to find out the coping strategies used by them to overcome this grief.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The study was conducted among school-going adolescents of District Dehradun. A pre-designed, pre-tested, self-administered, semi-structured questionnaire including socio-demographic details, COVID-19-related questions and Pandemic Grief Scale (Cronbach alpha-0.77) was used in the offline survey.

RESULTS

Out of 690 study participants, a total of 151 (21.8%) adolescents lost their loved ones due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Of these, 9.93% were facing dysfunctional grief due to their loss. To overcome this grief, coping strategies used by study participants were mainly phone and internet usage (78%) followed by watching TV (73.8%) and sleeping (68.1%).

CONCLUSION

Adolescents who experienced loss and were grieved are more at high risk of developing psychological disorders, particularly depression, anxiety, and physical illness, that might affect their education and overall development. Though to tackle the mental health crisis in the country Tele-Mental Health Assistance and Networking Across States (Tele-MANAS) has been initiated, still there is a lack of clarity regarding the structure and range of services provided by Tele-MANAS centers set up under the National Tele-Mental Health Program (NTMHP). Timely intervention and research to take solid steps to diminish the potential adverse effects of bereavement on adolescents' mental health is necessary.