Family coping and bereavement outcome

Abstract

Using a three-phase longitudinal design, the bereavement of 115 adult Australian families following the death of a parent from cancer was studied. The cohort comprised 115 spouses and 153 offspring; 670 individual responses were obtained. A range of psychosocial variables was studied through a semistructured interview covering the experience of the deceased's illness, death and funeral, spousal health, family coping, sources of support, use of ritual and completion of estate duties. Bereavement outcome was measured by standardized questionnaires of the intensity of grief (Bereavement Phenomenology Questionnaire), depression (Beck Depression Inventory), psychological distress (Brief Symptom I..