The prevalence of severe grief reactions after bereavement and their associations with mental health, physical health, and health service utilization: a population-based study
Background: Previous research has shown that bereaved individuals are at risk of developing physical and mental health problems. However, knowledge is scarce about the associations between severe grief reactions after bereavement and physical and mental health problems and the use of health services...
Published in: | European Journal of Psychotraumatology |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Taylor & Francis Group
2020
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2020.1844440 https://doaj.org/article/d1cd6c7fb23a499e86c67a9015fb7cd7 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:d1cd6c7fb23a499e86c67a9015fb7cd7 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:d1cd6c7fb23a499e86c67a9015fb7cd7 2023-05-15T18:34:51+02:00 The prevalence of severe grief reactions after bereavement and their associations with mental health, physical health, and health service utilization: a population-based study Jens C. Thimm Agnete Egilsdatter Kristoffersen Unni Ringberg 2020-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2020.1844440 https://doaj.org/article/d1cd6c7fb23a499e86c67a9015fb7cd7 EN eng Taylor & Francis Group http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2020.1844440 https://doaj.org/toc/2000-8066 2000-8066 doi:10.1080/20008198.2020.1844440 https://doaj.org/article/d1cd6c7fb23a499e86c67a9015fb7cd7 European Journal of Psychotraumatology, Vol 11, Iss 1 (2020) severe grief reactions bereavement physical health mental health health services use population-based study Psychiatry RC435-571 article 2020 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2020.1844440 2023-01-15T01:25:23Z Background: Previous research has shown that bereaved individuals are at risk of developing physical and mental health problems. However, knowledge is scarce about the associations between severe grief reactions after bereavement and physical and mental health problems and the use of health services. Objectives: The present study sought to investigate the prevalence of severe grief reactions and to study the associations of severe grief reactions with mental and physical health and health care utilization. Method: The sample comprised 20,453 adults aged 40 and above (mean age = 57.2 years, SD = 11.3 years, 52.4% female) who participated in the seventh wave of the Tromsø study. Severe grief was assessed with one question asking whether the respondent has experienced the death of a loved one and currently has difficulty accepting the loss, yearns for the deceased, and experiences intense emotional pain related to the loss. Furthermore, participants answered questions about their current physical health, mental health (Hopkins Symptom Checklist – 10), and the use of health services in the past year. Results: Overall, 5.2% of the participants reported severe grief after a loss in childhood, 25.9% after bereavement in adulthood and 4.1% after bereavement in the previous year. Female gender, higher age, living without a partner, non-Norwegian ethnicity, and lower socio-economic status were associated with severe grief. Severe grief reactions were negatively related to self-reported health, predicted positively current levels of depression and anxiety, and were positively associated with the use of health services. Effect sizes were small. Gender differences in the use of health services were observed. Conclusion: Severe grief reactions are common in individuals aged 40 and older and associated with self-reported physical and mental health problems as well as increased use of health services. Health service providers should be attentive to possible severe grief in connection with health complaints. Article in Journal/Newspaper Tromsø Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Tromsø European Journal of Psychotraumatology 11 1 1844440 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
severe grief reactions bereavement physical health mental health health services use population-based study Psychiatry RC435-571 |
spellingShingle |
severe grief reactions bereavement physical health mental health health services use population-based study Psychiatry RC435-571 Jens C. Thimm Agnete Egilsdatter Kristoffersen Unni Ringberg The prevalence of severe grief reactions after bereavement and their associations with mental health, physical health, and health service utilization: a population-based study |
topic_facet |
severe grief reactions bereavement physical health mental health health services use population-based study Psychiatry RC435-571 |
description |
Background: Previous research has shown that bereaved individuals are at risk of developing physical and mental health problems. However, knowledge is scarce about the associations between severe grief reactions after bereavement and physical and mental health problems and the use of health services. Objectives: The present study sought to investigate the prevalence of severe grief reactions and to study the associations of severe grief reactions with mental and physical health and health care utilization. Method: The sample comprised 20,453 adults aged 40 and above (mean age = 57.2 years, SD = 11.3 years, 52.4% female) who participated in the seventh wave of the Tromsø study. Severe grief was assessed with one question asking whether the respondent has experienced the death of a loved one and currently has difficulty accepting the loss, yearns for the deceased, and experiences intense emotional pain related to the loss. Furthermore, participants answered questions about their current physical health, mental health (Hopkins Symptom Checklist – 10), and the use of health services in the past year. Results: Overall, 5.2% of the participants reported severe grief after a loss in childhood, 25.9% after bereavement in adulthood and 4.1% after bereavement in the previous year. Female gender, higher age, living without a partner, non-Norwegian ethnicity, and lower socio-economic status were associated with severe grief. Severe grief reactions were negatively related to self-reported health, predicted positively current levels of depression and anxiety, and were positively associated with the use of health services. Effect sizes were small. Gender differences in the use of health services were observed. Conclusion: Severe grief reactions are common in individuals aged 40 and older and associated with self-reported physical and mental health problems as well as increased use of health services. Health service providers should be attentive to possible severe grief in connection with health complaints. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jens C. Thimm Agnete Egilsdatter Kristoffersen Unni Ringberg |
author_facet |
Jens C. Thimm Agnete Egilsdatter Kristoffersen Unni Ringberg |
author_sort |
Jens C. Thimm |
title |
The prevalence of severe grief reactions after bereavement and their associations with mental health, physical health, and health service utilization: a population-based study |
title_short |
The prevalence of severe grief reactions after bereavement and their associations with mental health, physical health, and health service utilization: a population-based study |
title_full |
The prevalence of severe grief reactions after bereavement and their associations with mental health, physical health, and health service utilization: a population-based study |
title_fullStr |
The prevalence of severe grief reactions after bereavement and their associations with mental health, physical health, and health service utilization: a population-based study |
title_full_unstemmed |
The prevalence of severe grief reactions after bereavement and their associations with mental health, physical health, and health service utilization: a population-based study |
title_sort |
prevalence of severe grief reactions after bereavement and their associations with mental health, physical health, and health service utilization: a population-based study |
publisher |
Taylor & Francis Group |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2020.1844440 https://doaj.org/article/d1cd6c7fb23a499e86c67a9015fb7cd7 |
geographic |
Tromsø |
geographic_facet |
Tromsø |
genre |
Tromsø |
genre_facet |
Tromsø |
op_source |
European Journal of Psychotraumatology, Vol 11, Iss 1 (2020) |
op_relation |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2020.1844440 https://doaj.org/toc/2000-8066 2000-8066 doi:10.1080/20008198.2020.1844440 https://doaj.org/article/d1cd6c7fb23a499e86c67a9015fb7cd7 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2020.1844440 |
container_title |
European Journal of Psychotraumatology |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
1844440 |
_version_ |
1766219823314894848 |