Measuring symptoms of grief and bereavement
Abstract
As part of an effort to develop an instrument to measure grief, a 58-item questionnaire was completed by 211 subjects who had lost a loved one because of death. The results demonstrated wide individual variations in specific symptoms and in their intensity and duration. Long after the immediate grief period, most bereaved individuals continued to feel upset, empty, or tearful; many experienced anniversary reactions and/or physical symptoms; and some had persistent identification phenomena. Although the acute dysphoria peaked between 1 and 2 years, several grief-related feelings, symptoms, and behaviors continued indefinitely. The relevance of present work and directions for future studies are discussed.
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- Authors
- Zisook, S., DeVaul, R. A., & Click, M. A.
- Affiliations
- University of California San Diego (US)
- ORCID
- Sidney Zisook
- Venue
- American Journal of Psychiatry
- Published
- 1982-12-01
- Volume
- 139
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 1590-1593
- ISSN
- 0002-953X (ISSN-L)
- 1535-7228
- OpenAlex
- W1588261816
- Cited by
- 200
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 3.86
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- American Journal of Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Death, Funerary Practices, and Mourning
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
- Keywords
- grief, bereavement, grief symptoms, questionnaire development, loss of a loved one, anniversary reactions, persistent identification, prolonged grief disorder, dysphoria
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Anger, Anxiety, Death, Depression, Female, Grief, Guilt, Humans, Identification, Psychological, Male, Middle Aged, Personality Inventory, Sick Role
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