Bereavement, stress, and social support in members of a self-help group

Abstract

The relationship between demographic characteristics, social support, network orientation, and the stress response to the death of a family member was studied. Participants were members of a national self‐help group for the bereaved, The Compassionate Friends (sample n =158), who completed a demographic questionnaire, and measures of stress response, social support, and orientation toward the helpfulness of others. Results indicated that time since the death was the strongest determinant of the severity of the stress response, followed by orientation toward the helpfulness of others. Satisfaction with social support was directly related to the number of people in the support network and participants' orientation toward others' helpfulness. Help‐seeking behavior was directly related to number of people in the support network. These results are discussed relative to counseling practice and grief awareness.

Online Grief Support Communities

“…The respondents in the van der Houwen, Schut, van den Bout, and Stroebe (2010) bereavement study had an average CES-D score of 26, which is just under the cut-off score (27) for major depression. When assessing psychological distress and the mental health of the bereaved, the time that has elapsed in the grieving process has also been a focus of previous studies (Reif, Patton, & Gold, 1995). Bereavement studies often use the "oneyear-after-death" marker in evaluating the psychological distress and mental health of those who are grieving.…”

“…Also unknown is how much time had passed between when the person or persons being mourned died and when the respondents joined a virtual bereavement community: “ … the time at which the bereaved person begins to accept help, professional or otherwise, may likely influence the stage of the healing process they are in, and should be taken into account” (Reif, Patton, & Gold, 1995, p. 305).…”

“…In the year following the death of someone close to them, individuals are considered to be at highest risk for emotional and physical illness, including their own death. Those who were active in face-to-face bereavement communities, however, reported positive feelings of well-being in this time period (Goodkin et al., 2001; Harlow, Goldberg, & Comstock, 1991; Hays, 1991; Mendes de Leon, Kasi, & Jacobs, 1994; Murrell & Himmelfarb, 1989; Parkes & Brown, 1972; Reif, Patton, & Gold, 1995; Videka-Sherman, 1982; Zisook & Shuchter, 1991). Lieberman and Videka-Sherman (1986) reported that widowed people who had joined a face-to-face bereavement community adapted more positively to their loss after a year than those who had not joined.…”

Counseling Women Who Have Experienced Pregnancy Loss: A Review of the Literature

“…Grief after miscarriage is often avoided by friends and family members of the grieving parents (Van, ). Even death itself is somewhat of a taboo topic in American society (Reif, Patton, & Gold, ). Added to this, miscarriage is not a disease or a medical condition.…”

Who killed whom?: victimization and culpability in the social construction of murder

“…More generally, other research suggests that those who join support groups have fewer avenues of social support compared with those who do not join (Reif et al 1995); additionally, those who join bereavement support groups tend to report higher levels of depression, anger and stress than those who do not join (Rynearson 1995). Importantly, many of those that have been helped found out about the organization by happenstance -there is no system of referrals as there is to Victim Support, for example.…”