Does worry affect adjustment to bereavement? A longitudinal investigation

Maarten C. Eisma, Paul A. Boelen, Henk A.W. Schut, Margaret S. Stroebe

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

32 Citations (Scopus)
8 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Background and objectives: Repetitive thought is a trans-diagnostic risk factor for development of psychopathology. Research on repetitive thought in bereaved individuals has focused primarily on clarifying the role of rumination, repetitive thinking about past negative events and/or negative emotions. While detrimental effects of rumination have been demonstrated following bereavement, surprisingly few studies have aimed to clarify the role of worry, repetitive thinking about potential future negative events, in adjustment to loss. This study sought to fill this gap in knowledge.

Methods/Design: 183 bereaved individuals (85.3% women) filled out questionnaires on sociodemographic and loss-related characteristics, worry, and symptom measures of depression, anxiety, and prolonged grief. After six months, 155 participants completed worry and symptom measures again. Using multiple regression analyses, concurrent and longitudinal associations between loss-related variables, worry, and symptoms of psychopathology were examined.

Results: Main results were that worry was strongly positively associated with symptoms of anxiety, depression and prolonged grief concurrently and also predicted higher levels of anxiety, depression and prolonged grief longitudinally.

Conclusions: Findings suggest that worry influences adjustment to bereavement negatively and may be a potential target in grief therapy, especially when aiming to reduce anxiety.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)243-252
Number of pages10
JournalAnxiety, Stress and Coping
Volume30
Issue number3
Early online date16 Sept 2016
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017

Bibliographical note

This work was supported with a ZonMw TOP grant of the Dutch Association for Scientific Research (NWO), grant number: 91208009.

Keywords

  • grief
  • worry
  • rumination
  • depression
  • anxiety
  • prolonged grief disorder

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