Is It Helpful to Help Others While Grieving?

Abstract

Introduction: In the current study, we assessed self-reported and behavioral measures of support provided to others and examined their longitudinal relationship to grief and depression symptoms. Methods: Hierarchical regressions that controlled for initial grief symptoms and support received from others indicated that providing support to others during bereavement had negative effects on psychological functioning, especially for those experiencing high levels of grief at the time of giving. Results: Across all participants, those who reported providing instrumental support to others at T1 tended to have greater depression symptoms at T2. Furthermore, choosing to donate to bereavement organizations in a laboratory experiment predicted higher levels of grief symptoms at T2, but primarily for participants experiencing high levels of grief at T1. Conclusion: Additional research is needed to replicate and extend these findings. and determine why helping others during periods of transition and loss may increase one's risk for depression and/or grief.

Coping and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms among Chinese youth in the peak and remission periods of COVID-19

“…Finally, the harmful effects of trauma-focus coping were found to be more pronounced among those who had higher levels of initial distress. The result highlights the risk factor of pre-existing or early functioning/distress on the development of psychopathology following traumatic exposure (e.g., Weems, 2015 , Pfeffer and Bonanno, 2020 ), as well as calls for caution in implementing trauma-focus interventions for young people at the early stage of traumatic experiences.…”

“…For example, the negative effects of avoidant coping on post-traumatic stress symptoms were only found among participants with high exposure to natural disasters but not those with low exposures (Weems et al, 2013). Similarly, altruistic behaviors during bereavement were found to increase distress, but only for those who experienced high level of initial distress, but not those who experienced low initial distress ( Pfeffer & Bonanno, 2020 ).…”