PANDEMIC GRIEF STUDY (PANGS): ACUTE GRIEF OF BEREAVED RELATIVES FOLLOWING DEATHS DURING COVID-19

ABSTRACT

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the death of over 700,000 Americans, with each death leaving 9 surviving Americans (i.e., over 6 million bereaved). One harsh reality of the pandemic has been that survivors have often not been able to care for their dying loved ones, and grieve for them in traditional ways (e.g., wakes, funerals), due to social distancing. The present study used semi-structured clinical interviews to investigate acute grief during the pandemic. Methods: Participants were interviewed by phone, including the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression scale, a 20-item measure of depression;the Prolonged Grief Disorder scale, a 13-item measure of prolonged grief disorder;the Work and Social Adjustment Scale (WSAS), a 5-item measure assessing for adjustment after major life events;the Post-Traumatic Growth (PTG) scale, a 10-item measure of growth following a traumatic event such as the death of a loved one;the Utrecht Grief Rumination Scale (UGRS), a 15-item scale measuring various aspects of grief-related rumination;the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (ISEL), a 12-item measure assessing for social support following a major life event. Results: Participants (N = 51, 74.5% White, 80.4% non-Hispanic) had an average age of 51 (SD = 15.9) and were mostly female (76.5%). 53.0% said they were unable to provide support for their dying loved one, 45.1% said they were not able to say good-bye, 47.1% said they were not prepared, 45.1% said they should have been present for the death. The sample experienced sub-clinical depressive symptoms (M = 10.04, SD = 7.03), and moderate prolonged grief symptoms (M = 23.0, SD = 9.15). Participants had a mean of 7.61 (SD = 10.02) on the WSAS, 23.24 (SD = 13.50) on the PTG, 17.31 (SD = 14.50) on the UGRS, and 30.25 (SD = 4.63) on the ISEL. Conclusion: Despite feeling unprepared for the death of their loved ones during the pandemic, depression and grief scores suggest that many individuals are resilient, given their moderate prolonged grief and sub-clinical depression scores on average. The scores for the WSAS suggest that people are adjusting to work and social life following the death of their loved ones. Clinical intervention should focus on the small proportion who are not adjusting during pandemic bereavement.