Many people lost a relative during the COVID-19 pandemic. Such a loss may have deleterious implications due to the circumstances of bereavement during lockdowns and social distancing. This study aimed to explore depressive symptoms, complicated grief, and suicidal ideation in the grieving process among 104 bereaved jewish adults who had lost relatives during the COVID-19 pandemic by completing self-reported questionnaires. The results indicate high suicidal ideation, complicated grief, and depression among them. Bereaved with suicidal ideation have an avoidant attachment and a close relationship with the deceased. These results highlight the adverse implication of COVID-19 on the grief process.
AoyamaM.SakaguchiY.MoritaT.OgawaA.FujisawaD.KizawaY.TsunetoS.ShimaY.MiyashitaM. (2018). Factors associated with possible complicated grief and major depressive disorders. Psycho-Oncology, 27(3), 915–921. https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.4610
2.
BertuccioR. F.RunionM. C. (2020). Considering grief in mental health outcomes of COVID-19. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 12(S1), S87–S89https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000723
3.
DiolaiutiF.MarazzitiD.BeatinoM. F.MucciF.PozzaA. (2021). Impact and consequences of COVID-19 pandemic on complicated grief and persistent complex bereavement disorder. Psychiatry Research, 300(2), 113916. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2021.113916
4.
EismaM. C.BoelenP. A.LenferinkL. I. M. (2020). Prolonged grief disorder following the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Psychiatry Research, 288, 113031. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113031
5.
EismaM. C.TammingaA. (2020). Grief before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: Multiple group comparisons. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 60(6), Article e1–e4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2020.10.004
6.
EismaM. C.TammingaA.SmidG. E.BoelenP. A. (2021). Acute grief after deaths due to COVID-19, natural causes and unnatural causes: An empirical comparison. Journal of Affective Disorders, 278, 54–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.09.049
7.
FederS.SmithD.GriffinH.ShreveS. T.KinderD.Kutney-LeeA.ErsekM. (2021). “Why couldn’t I go in to see him?” Bereaved families’ perceptions of end-of-life communication during COVID-19. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 69(3), 587–592. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.16993
8.
GesiC.CarmassiC.CerveriG.CarpitaB.CremoneI. M.Dell’OssoL. (2020). Complicated grief: What to expect after the coronavirus pandemic. Frontiers in Psychiatry. 11, 489. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00489
9.
GoveasJ. S.ShearM. K. (2020). Grief and the COVID-19 pandemic in older adults. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 28(10), 1119–1125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jagp.2020.06.021
10.
HannaJ. R.RapaE.DaltonL. J.HughesR.McGlincheyT.BennettK. M.DonnellanW. J.MasonS. R.MaylandC. R. (2021). ‘A qualitative study of bereaved relatives’ end of life experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Palliative Medicine, 35(5), 843–851. https://doi.org/10.1177/02692163211004210
11.
HawesM. T.SzenczyA. K.KleinD. N.HajcakG.NelsonB. D. (2021). Increases in depression and anxiety symptoms in adolescents and young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychological Medicine, 52(14), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291720005358
LenferinkL. I. M.NickersonA.de KeijserJ.SmidG. E.BoelenP. A. (2020). Trajectories of grief, depression, and posttraumatic stress in disaster-bereaved people. Depression and Anxiety, 37(1), 35–44. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.22850
15.
Levi-BelzY.AisenbergD. (2021). Interpersonal predictors of suicide ideation and complicated-grief trajectories among suicide bereaved individuals: A four-year longitudinal study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 282(1), 1030–1035. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2021.01.006
16.
Levi-BelzY.Lev-AriL. (2022). Thinking for healing: The role of mentalization deficits as moderator in the link between complicated grief and suicide ideation among suicide-loss survivors. Death Studies, 47(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2022.2065707
MaddrellA. (2020). Bereavement, grief, and consolation: Emotional-affective geographies of loss during COVID-19 In. Dialogues in Human Geography. 10(2), 107–111. https://doi.org/10.1177/2043820620934947
19.
MasonT. M.TofthagenC. S.BuckH. G. (2020). Complicated grief: Risk factors, protective factors, and interventions. Journal of Social Work in End-of-Life and Palliative Care, 16(2), 151–174. https://doi.org/10.1080/15524256.2020.1745726
20.
McCoydJ. L.KollerJ.WalterC. A. (2021). Grief and loss across the lifespan: A biopsychosocial perspective. Springer Publishing Company.
21.
O’ConnorM.LasgaardM.ShevlinM.GuldinM. B. (2010). A confirmatory factor analysis of combined models of the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire and the Inventory of Complicated Grief-Revised: Are we measuring complicated grief or posttraumatic stress?Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 24(7), 672–679. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2010.04.009
22.
Oon-aromA.WongpakaranT.SatthapisitS.SaisavoeyN.KuntawongP.WongpakaranN. (2019). Suicidality in the elderly: Role of adult attachment. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 44, 8–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2019.07.014
23.
Osman, A., Bagge, C. L., Gutierrez, P. M., Konick, L. C., Kopper, B. A. & Barrios, F. X. (2001). The Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire--Revised (SBQ-R): Validation with clinical and nonclinical samples. Assessment, 8(4), 443–454.
24.
PeaseB.AllanJ.BriskmanL. (2020). Critical social work: Theories and practices for a socially just world. Routledge.
25.
PrigersonH. G.KakaralaS.GangJ.MaciejewskiP. K. (2021). History and status of prolonged grief disorder as a psychiatric diagnosis. Annual review of clinical psychology. 17(1), 109–126. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-081219-093600
26.
RobersonK.SmithT.DavidsonW. (2018). Understanding death rituals. International Journal of Childbirth Education, 33(3), 22–24.
27.
SmigelskyM. A.BottomleyJ. S.RelyeaG.NeimeyerR. A. (2020). Investigating risk for grief severity: Attachment to the deceased and relationship quality. Death Studies, 44(7), 402–411. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2018.1548539
28.
StelzerE. M.ZhouN.MaerckerA.O’ConnorM. F.KillikellyC. (2020). Prolonged grief disorder and the cultural crisis. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 2982. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02982
29.
TangS.XiangZ. (2021). Who suffered most after deaths due to COVID-19? Prevalence and correlates of prolonged grief disorder in COVID-19 related bereaved adults. Globalization and Health, 17(1), 19. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-021-00669-5
30.
TidwellB. L.LarsonE. D.BentleyJ. A. (2021). Attachment security and continuing bonds: The mediating role of meaning-made in bereavement. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 26(2), 116–133. https://doi.org/10.1080/15325024.2020.1753389
31.
UstunG. (2021). Determining depression and related factors in a society affected by COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 67(1), 54–63. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020764020938807
32.
van EerselJ. H. W.TarisT. W.BoelenP. A. (2020). Reciprocal relations between symptoms of complicated grief, depression, and anxiety following job loss: A cross-lagged analysis. Clinical Psychologist, 24(3), 276–284. https://doi.org/10.1111/cp.12212
33.
WallaceC. L.WladkowskiS. P.GibsonA.WhiteP. (2020). Grief during the COVID-19 pandemic: Considerations for palliative care providers. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 60(1), Article e70–e76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2020.04.012
34.
WeiM.RussellD. W.MallinckrodtB.VogelD. L. (2007). The Experiences in Close Relationship Scale (ECR)-short form: Reliability, validity, and factor structure. Journal of Personality Assessment, 88(2), 187–204. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223890701268041
35.
WordenJ. W. (2018). Grief counseling and grief therapy: A handbook for the mental health practitioner. Springer Publishing Company.
