A Quantitative Study of Graduate Student Grief Experiences

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of grief among graduate students, the effects of their grief, types of support utilized, and risk of prolonged grief disorder. Approximately 26% of graduate students (N ¼ 1,575) experienced the loss of a significant person or pet in their lives within the past 24 months. Graduate students reported various grief effects, primarily emotional effects, and utilized support predominantly from family and friends. Only a small percentage (0.5%) of graduate students met the criteria for prolonged grief disorder; however, each student also reported being diagnosed with other mental health illnesses. Implications of these findings are provided, along with recommendations for future research.

Characteristics of Graduate Counseling Student Grief Experiences

“…Although researchers have begun to investigate the effects of grief on graduate students (Supiano & Vaughn-Cole, 2011;Varga, 2015), a specific focus on counseling graduate students is an area needing further attention. Given that future counselors are often and increasingly tasked with helping others navigate trauma and grief (Ober et al, 2012), it is important to understand the personal loss experiences of these specific students.…”

“…Examples of these effects included feelings of sadness, anger, guilt, and regret (emotional); fatigue, illness, headaches, and insomnia (physical); difficulty concentrating, studying, and paying attention in class (cognitive); crying, smoking, drinking, sexual promiscuity, and irrational outbursts (behavioral); changes in thoughts regarding religion or spirituality and searches for life meaning (world assumptions); and relationship changes with others and feelings of isolation (interpersonal). Other researchers have found similar effects among students, primarily through online survey research using demographic questionnaires and researcher-constructed instruments designed to measure grief effects through categorical and Likert-type scale items (Neimeyer, Laurie, Mehta, Hardison, & Currier, 2008;Servaty-Seib & Hamilton, 2006;Varga, 2015;Walker et al, 2012).…”

“…These concerns are particularly important with respect to graduate-level counselors-in-training, whose work with clients may compound personal grief experiences, and whose personal grief experiences may impede their work as students and continuing professionals. Only a small portion (0.5%) of grieving graduate students met the criteria for PGD in one study; however, those at risk for PGD also reported being diagnosed with another mental health issue, such as depression, eating disorders, insomnia, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; Varga, 2015). This underlines the potential significance of unreconciled grief for graduate-level counselors in training.…”

“…For college students, bereavement often presents unique challenges that are important for helping professionals to understand. Approximately 30% to 40% of American undergraduate students have experienced bereavement within the previous 24 months (Balk, Walker, & Baker, 2010;Smyth, Hockemeyer, Heron, Wonderlich, & Pennebaker, 2008;Walker, Hathcoat, & Noppe, 2012) as well as approximately 25% of graduate students (Varga, 2015). These estimates indicate that at any given time, substantial numbers of postsecondary students are grieving the loss of a loved one.…”

“…Graduate students in general have reported holistic grief effects similar to those reported by undergraduate students, with emotional effects (e.g., feelings of sadness, anger, guilt, regret, etc.) reported most frequently, as well as the loss of close loved ones, as opposed to acquaintances (Supiano & Vaughn-Cole, 2011;Varga, 2015). By responding to a questionnaire containing true/false and open-ended questions, as well as participating in a process group, graduate students training specifically in health or helping professions (i.e., nursing, social work, counseling, pastoral care, genetic counseling) described challenges in separating their grief experiences from those of their clients as well as experiencing apprehension when their own losses had occurred recently (Supiano & Vaughn-Cole, 2011).…”