Online Grief Support Communities

Abstract

Online grief support communities have become popular in recent years for those seeking information and empathetic others following the death of someone close to them. Hundreds of Facebook pages and Web sites are now devoted to bereavement—and health-care professionals need to assess what therapeutic benefits virtual communities might offer to help people manage grief and integrate death into their lives. In the current study of online grief support networks (N = 185), individuals report less psychological distress as a result of joining these groups—and this psychosocial benefit increased over time. Individuals who were members for a year or more characterized their grief as less severe compared with those who had a shorter tenure in the community. Additional findings and implications are discussed.

Keywords

virtual support groups grief bereavement online grief support

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Baddeley

Singer

(2008) Telling losses: Personality correlates and functions of bereavement narratives. Journal of Research in Personality 42: 421–438.

Baer, K. (2008, July 20). Losing a spouse early “almost too big to handle.” Where to seek help: When someone loses a spouse young, online and local support groups can help them heal. The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, VA. Retrieved from http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.gl.iit.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=11&sid=df1e752c-4238-485c-99ec-ab0f371628a9%40sessionmgr4001&hid=4101&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=nfh&AN=2W62W62771071698.

Bento

R. F.

(1994) When the show must go on: Disenfranchised grief in organizations. Journal of Managerial Psychology 9: 35–44.

Black

Levin

Mehan

Quinn

(1983) Real and non-real time interaction: Unraveling multiple threads of discourse. Discourse Process 6: 59–75.

Campbell

Meier

Carr

Enga

James

Reedy

Zheng

(2001) Health behavior changes after colon cancer: A comparison of findings from face-to-face and on-line focus groups. Family & Community Health: The Journal of Health Promotion & Maintenance 24(3): 88–103. Retrieved from http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.gl.iit.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=15&sid=df1e752c-4238-485c-99ec-ab0f371628a9%40sessionmgr4001&hid=4101&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=psyh&AN=2001-11793-008.

Capitulo

(2004) Perinatal grief online. MCN, The American Journal of Maternal Child Nursing 29(5): 305–311.

Clayton

(1990) Bereavement and depression. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 51(7): 34–38.

Cohen

Wills

T. A.

(1985) Stress, social support and the buffering hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin 98(2): 310–357.

Comstock

Helsing

(1976) Symptoms of depression in two communities. Psychological Medicine 6: 551–563.

10.

Dimond

Lund

Casserta

M. S.

(1987) The role of social support in the years of bereavement in an elderly sample. Gerontologist 27: 599–604.

11.

Doka

(1989) Disenfranchised grief. In: Doka

(ed.) Disenfranchised grief: Recognizing hidden sorrow, New York, NY: Lexington Books, pp. 3–11.

12.

Dyer

Thompson

(2000) Internet use for web-education on the overlooked areas of grief and loss. CyberPsychology & Behavior 3: 255–270.

13.

Eaglesham, S. (1997, November). Online support groups: Extending communities of concern. Dissertation abstracts international: Section A, 58. Retrieved from http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.gl.iit.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=18&sid=df1e752c-4238-485c-99ec-ab0f371628a9%40sessionmgr4001&hid=4101&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=psyh&AN=1997-95021-020.

14.

Faschingbauer

DeVaul

Zisook

(1987) The Texas revised inventory of grief. In: Zisook

(ed.) Biopsychosocial aspects of bereavement, Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press, pp. 109–124.

15.

Ferguson

(1997) Health care in cyberspace: Patients lead a revolution. The Futurist 31(6): 29.

16.

Finfgeld

(2000) Therapeutic groups online: The good, the bad, and the unknown. Issues in Mental Health Nursing 21(3): 241–255. doi:10.1080/016128400248068.

17.

Gary, J., & Remolino, L. (2000). Online Support Groups: Nuts and bolts, benefits, limitations and future directions. ERIC/CASS Digest. Retrieved from http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.gl.iit.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=24&sid=df1e752c-4238-485c-99ec-ab0f371628a9%40sessionmgr4001&hid=4101&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=eric&AN=ED446330.

18.

Gass

(1987) The health of conjugally bereaved older widows. The role of appraisal. Research in Nursing and Health 10: 39–47.

19.

Goodkin

Baldewicz

Blaney

Asthana

Kumar

Shapshak

Zheng

W. L.

(2001) Physiological effects of bereavement and bereavement support group interventions. In: Stroebe

Hansson

Stroebe

Schut

(eds) Handbook of bereavement research: Consequences, coping, and care, Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, pp. 671–703.

20.

Goodkin

Feaster

Tuttle

Blaney

Kumar

Baum

Fletcher

(1996) Bereavement is associated with time-dependent decrements in cellular immune function in asymptomatic HIV-1 seropositive homosexual men. Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology 3: 109–118.

21.

Goodkin

Tuttle

R. S.

Blaney

N. T.

Feaster

D. J.

Baldewicz

T. T.

Uselmann

Fletcher

M. A.

(2000) Bereavement, immunity, and the impact of bereavement support groups in HIV-1 infection. In: Goodkin

Visser

A. P.

(eds) Psychoneuroimmunology, stress, mental disorders, and health, Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc, pp. 357–393.

22.

Harlow

Goldberg

Comstock

(1991) A longitudinal study of the prevalence of depressive symptomatology in elderly widowed and married women. Archives of General Psychiatry 48: 1065–1068.

23.

Hays

(1991) Psychological distress, social environment, and seeking social support following conjugal bereavement (PhD thesis), New Haven, CT: Yale University.

24.

Helsing

Szkio

(1981) Mortality after bereavement. American Journal of Epidemiology 114: 41–52.

25.

Huntington

Nicholas

Homewood

Polydoratou

Gunter

Russell

Whithey

(2004) The general public's use of (and attitudes towards) interactive, personal digital health information and advisory services. Journal of Documentation 60(3): 245–265. doi:10.1108/00220410410534167.

26.

Jacobs

(1993) Pathologic grief: Maladaptation to loss, Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.

27.

Kaunonen

Tarkka

Paunonen

Laippala

(1999) Grief and social support after the death of a spouse. Journal of Advanced Nursing 30: 1304–1311.

28.

Kiecolt-Glaser

Glaser

(1988) Methodological issues in behavioral immunology research with humans. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity 2: 67–78.

29.

Krysinska

Andriessen

(2010) On-line support and resources for people bereaved through suicide: What is available?. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior 40(6): 640–650.

30.

Lieberman

Videka-Sherman

(1986) The impact of self-help groups on the mental health of widows and widowers. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 56: 435–449.

31.

Lieberman

Wizlenberg

Golant

Di Minno

(2005) The impact of group composition on Internet support groups: Homogeneous versus heterogeneous Parkinson's groups. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice 9(4): 239–250. doi:10.1037/1089-2699.9.4.239.

32.

Lindemann

(1944) Symptomatology and management of acute grief. American Journal of Psychiatry 101: 141–160.

33.

Lopata

(1973) Widowhood in an American city, Morristown, NJ: General Learning Press.

34.

McDowell

Newell

(1996) Measuring health: A guide to rating scales and questionnaires, 2nd ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

35.

Malec

A. B.

(2009) Computer-mediated support groups for widows: Seeking support among strangers. Dissertation Abstracts: The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. AAT, 3388336.

36.

Mendes de Leon

C. F.

Kasl

Jacobs

(1994) A prospective study of widowhood and changes in symptoms of depression in a community sample of the elderly. Psychological Medicine 64: 613–624.

37.

Michaels Hollander

(2001) Cyber community in the valley of the shadow of death. Journal of Loss & Trauma 6(2): 135–146. doi:10.1080/108114401753198007.

38.

Murrell

Himmelfarb

(1989) Effects of attachment, bereavement and pre-event conditions on subsequent depressive symptoms in older adults. Psychology and Aging 4: 166–172.

39.

Myers

Weissman

(1980) Use of a self-report symptom scale to detect depression in a community sample. American Journal of Psychiatry 137: 1081–1088.

40.

Parkes

(1990) Risk factors in bereavement: implications for the prevention and treatment of pathologic grief. Psychiatric Annals 20: 308–313.

41.

Parkes

Brown

(1972) Health after bereavement: A controlled study of young Boston widows and widowers. Psychosomatic Medicine 34: 449–461.

42.

Quan

Wadsworth

(2000) The occupational health nurse's role when death comes to work. AAOHN 48: 461–469.

43.

Radloff

(1977) The CES-D Scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement 1: 385–401.

44.

Rankin, B. (2010, August 15). Mourners turn to social networks to express grief, remember the dead. Web of sorrow. Beaumont (TX) Enterprise.

45.

Reif

Patton

Gold

(1995) Bereavement, stress, and social support in members of a self-help group. Journal of Community Psychology 23: 292–306.

46.

Roberts

Vernon

(1983) The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale: Its use in a community sample. American Journal of Psychiatry 140: 41–46.

47.

Rynearson

(1990) Pathologic grief: The Queen's croquet ground. Psychiatric Annals 20: 295–303.

48.

Satterfield

J. M.

Folkman

Acree

(2002) Explanatory style predicts depressive symptoms following AIDS-related bereavement. Cognitive Therapy and Research 26(3): 393–403.

49.

Siegel

J. M.

Kuykendall

D. H.

(1990) Loss, widowhood, and psychological distress among the elderly. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 58(5): 519–524.

50.

Sontag

(2003) Regarding the pain of others, London, England: Penguin.

51.

Stein

Winokuer

(1989) Monday mourning: Managing employee grief. In: Doka

(ed.) Disenfranchised grief—recognizing hidden sorrow, New York, NY: Lexington Books, pp. 91–102.

52.

Stroebe

van der Houwen

Schut

(2008) Bereavement support, intervention, and research on the internet: A critical review. In: Stroebe

Hansson

Schut

Stroebe

(eds) Handbook of bereavement research and practice: Advances in theory and intervention, Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, pp. 551–574.

53.

Stroebe

(1987) Bereavement and health, New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

54.

Stroebe

Schut

Stroebe

(2005) Grief work, disclosure and counseling. Do they help the bereaved?. Clinical Psychology Review 25(4): 395–414.

55.

Stylianos

Vachon

(1993) The role of social support in bereavement. In: Stroebe

Stroebe

Hanson

R. O.

(eds) Handbook of bereavement: Theory, research, and intervention, New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, pp. 397–410.

56.

Tehan

(2007) The compassionate workplace: Leading with the heart. Illness, Crisis and Loss 15: 205–218.

57.

van der Houwen

Schut

van den Bout

Stroebe

(2010) The efficacy of a brief Internet-based self-help intervention for the bereaved. Behavior Research and Therapy 48: 359–367.

58.

van der Houwen

Stroebe

Schut

Stroebe

van den Bout

(2010) Online mutual support in bereavement: An empirical examination. Computers in Human Behavior 26: 1519–1525.

59.

Vanderwerke

L. C.

Prigerson

H. G.

(2003) Social support and technological connectedness as protective factors in bereavement. Journal of Loss and Trauma 9: 45–57.

60.

Videka-Sherman

(1982) Effects of participation in a self-help group for bereaved parents. Prevention in Human Services 1: 69–77.

61.

Walterscheid

(1990) Grief in the workplace. Women in Business 42: 26.

62.

Weissman

Sholomskas

Pottenger

Prusoff

Locke

(1977) Assessing depressive symptoms in five psychiatric populations: A validation study. American Journal of Epidemiology 106: 203–214.

63.

Windholz

Marmar

Horowitz

(1985) A review of the research on conjugal bereavement: Impact on health and efficacy of intervention. Comprehensive Psychiatry 26: 433–447.

64.

Zich

Attkisson

Greenfield

(1990) Screening for depression in primary care clinics: The CES-D and the BDL. International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine 20: 259–277.

65.

Zisook

DeVaul

(1985) Unresolved grief. American Journal of Psychoanalysis 45: 370–379.

66.

Zisook

Shuchter

S. R.

(1991) Depression through the first year after the death of a spouse. American Journal of Psychiatry 148: 1346–1352.