Posttraumatic Growth Following the Loss of a Pet: A Cross-Cultural Comparison

Abstract

The current study examined Posttraumatic Growth (PTG) experienced by bereaved pet owners in the United States, French-Canada, Japan, and Hong Kong following the death of their pet. Using qualitative methodology, we analyzed responses of participants who answered "yes" to a question about experiencing PTG and explored to what extent the cross-cultural responses mapped onto the five factors of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI). For the U.S. sample, 58% of responses mapped onto the PTGI. For French-Canada, 72% of responses mapped onto the PTGI. For Japan, 50% of responses mapped onto the PTGI and for Hong Kong, 39% of responses mapped onto the PTGI. We also explored emergent categories related to PTG for individuals who have lost a pet and discerned the unique aspects for PTG across cultures.

Older women’s experiences of companion animal death: impacts on well-being and aging-in-place

“…Despite the therapeutic effect of memorialization to remember and honor the deceased, there are few socially-acceptable and viable death rituals for people bereaved by CA death [ 32 – 34 ]. If bereaved CA owners are unable to express themselves, the healing process may be complicated or prolonged [ 5 , 12 ].…”

Self-Compassion, Social Constraints, and Psychosocial Outcomes in a Pet Bereavement Sample

“…The current study investigates social contexts and individual differences in experiences of pet bereavement, with particular focus on how psychosocial outcomes vary as a function of exposure to social constraints, as well as individual differences in self-compassion and use of CB in a recently bereaved pet loss sample. Our work is based on previous findings on human loss and self-compassion (e.g., Fong & Loi, 2016;Muris et al, 2016;Neff, 2009;Neff, Kirkpatrick & Rude, 2007), as well as previous evidence of the utility of CB in the context of pet bereavement (Bussolari et al, 2019;Packman et al, 2011;Packman et al, 2014;Packman, Bussolari, Carmack, & Katz, 2016). To our knowledge, the current study is novel in its consideration of self-compassion as it relates to grief, psychosocial outcomes, and CB expressions among recently bereaved pet owners.…”

Predictors of Post-traumatic Growth and Stress Following the Loss of a Pet

“…Of particular interest was the experience of PTG following pet loss. While much of past research assessing the effects of pet loss has focused on outcomes of depression (Cordaro, 2012) or posttraumatic stress (Hunt et al, 2008), few studies have focused on the experience of growth (Bussolari et al, 2019).…”

“…This suggests that the timeline must be considered when assessing an individual's ability to achieve growth or positive change following pet loss. In this regard, growth was possible among those who had more time to grieve (Bussolari et al, 2019). Similarly, when grieving human loss, early on in bereavement negative affect persists, but over time attention can turn to sources of minimized grief symptoms or even positive affect (Clark, 2004).…”

“…In a cross-cultural study, post-traumatic growth was investigated among individuals who had lost companion animals (Bussolari et al, 2019). The findings suggested that many of the U.S. respondents reported that it was "too soon" to think about growth or positive change from the loss, whereas respondents from Canada, Japan and Hong Kong reported that it was important to find meaning in the loss.…”