Death Studies最新文献

This qualitative study explored how financial instability and insecure employment contribute to suicidal thoughts and behaviors among adults living in Scotland. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 individuals who had experienced financial hardship, insecure employment, and suicidality. Reflexive thematic analysis identified key themes, highlighting how financial stressors create a cycle of unmet basic needs, powerlessness, and social isolation, which exacerbates suicidal distress. Workplace conditions including job precarity and lack of support, further intensified these experiences, while protective factors included supportive relationships and proactive help-seeking. A co-creation workshop with participants and stakeholders informed the study's recommendations, emphasizing the urgent need for strengthened employment protections, fair pay, and improved access to mental health services. The findings support emerging research on the role of employment quality in shaping mental health and suicide risk, demonstrating the need for integrated policy responses that address both workplace conditions and broader socio-economic determinants of mental health.

Sibling relationships, often the longest in a person's life, carry deep emotional bonds, making their loss complex yet underrepresented in grief literature. This interpretive, meta-ethnographic qualitative synthesis explored adult sibling bereavement due to illness or accident, analyzing 10 English-language studies (2003-2024) using Noblit and Hare's (1988) protocol. Three meta-themes were developed: (1) Death's Ripple Effect, (2) The Space Between Grief and Healing, and (3) Navigating a New Reality. This paper highlights the unique challenges faced by surviving siblings-such as their fractured parallel life, role substitution, and identity disruption-and emphasizes the need for bereavement support that is specifically tailored to these dynamics. The authors recommend that program design is informed by research evidence that shows the importance of age as well as identity-focused and role-sensitive approaches. Existing bereavement interventions are effective but lack specificity, especially for sibling loss, highlighting the need for more targeted and evidenced support.

Bereavement represents a significant public health concern due to rising mortality rates in the United States. Little is known about the availability and distribution of bereavement services at the state and local level, hindering efforts to assess how well these services address community needs. This cross-sectional study analyzed bereavement agencies across Michigan's 83 counties, examining services and the relationship between mortality rates and service availability. Findings reveal geographic disparities, with urban counties often lacking adequate bereavement services despite high mortality rates, while rural counties demonstrate limited services and significant variation in accessibility. Many agencies provide generalized support, which may not address the diverse needs of grieving individuals based on age, cultural background, or type of loss. These disparities underscore the concept of "bereavement service deserts," defined as areas with disproportionately high mortality rates compared to the availability of bereavement services. Expanding services requires equitable resource distribution and sustainable tailored interventions.

People from Black and other minoritized ethnic communities are known to experience health and social care inequities, including barriers to accessing bereavement support. However, bereavement experiences and support needs in different population groups are poorly understood. This qualitative, co-produced study aimed to explore experiences of grief and bereavement among people of Black British and Black Caribbean heritage in England. Through community conversations and interviews with 35 participants, the study illuminates how structural inequities, cultural norms, and systemic racism intersect to shape grief experiences. Participants highlighted the importance of extended family and community in grief, which often clashed with the individualistic norms of white British society. Cultural customs that discouraged emotional expression made grieving harder, while rituals like Nine-Night and storytelling provided crucial communal support. Findings inform evidence-based recommendations for systemic reforms and community-level action to help improve experiences among Black British and Black Caribbean bereaved people in England.

Parental bereavement has both intrapersonal and interpersonal effects. Although gender differences in grief are acknowledged, the ways in which fathers experience the grief process after the loss of a child have been largely neglected. This study aimed to provide a comprehensive understanding of fathers' grief processes and the psychological impacts of bereavement while also comparing study methodologies. The CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed databases were searched with relevant keywords in December 2023 and 18 studies (9 quantitative, 8 qualitative, and 1 mixed) were identified. The findings predominantly demonstrate that while fathers may appear less affected than mothers, their grief processes may endure for extended periods. Fathers often use maladaptive coping strategies, leading to psychological disorders such as depression and PTSD. Interpreted through the lens of the Dual Process Model, these results highlight the significant psychological impact of child loss on fathers.

This study examined profiles of rumination and their associations with suicidal ideation and behavior. Two hundred fourteen adults (≥18 years) completed an online survey between July 2024 and March 2025. Latent profile analysis used four rumination subtypes. Five profiles emerged: low (20.1%), moderate reflection-deliberate (30.4%), moderate brooding-intrusive (21.0%), high reflection-deliberate (11.2%), and high brooding-intrusive (17.3%). Compared with the low rumination class, depression was higher in the moderate and high brooding-intrusive classes (ORs = 1.95-2.10), anxiety was elevated across all higher-rumination classes (ORs = 1.61-2.33), and attentional control was lower in the moderate and high brooding-intrusive rumination classes (ORs = 0.82). Moderate and high classes also showed greater suicidal ideation, intensity, and risk. Both brooding-intrusive and reflection-deliberate rumination were associated with increased suicide risk, underscoring the need to address diverse rumination styles in suicide prevention.

Adults residing in communities that experience mass violence incidents (MVI) frequently experience adverse mental and behavioral health outcomes. However, little is known about the impact of experiencing the death of a close acquaintance during an MVI, which limits response efforts. Using a household probability sample of adults from six MVI-affected communities, this study examined the prevalence and correlates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and prolonged grief (PGD) among individuals residing in MVI-affected communities who experienced the death of a close acquaintance. 41.7% and 22.8% met criteria for past-year PTSD and depression, respectively. Nearly 1 in 5 and 1 in 10 met criteria for current PTSD and depression, respectively. Approximately 3.7% met criteria for PGD. Prior trauma exposure, low social support, and binge drinking were strong correlates of adverse outcomes. Individuals who experience the MVI-related death of an acquaintance in their community may be particularly vulnerable and warrant additional support.

Grief attacks-sudden, unexpected and intense upsurges of loss-related anguish-are a common grief-specific phenomenon. However, no research has identified the range of symptomatology that characterizes this experience, nor is there a validated instrument to measure its intensity. Therefore, our objectives were to identify the components underlying grief attacks, develop a self-report measure of the phenomenon, and explore the circumstances in which they arise, their frequency and duration, and how persons who suffer them attempt to cope with their occurrence. A study of 247 bereaved adults revealed that a grief attack is composed of four dimensions (i.e., panic, yearning, disorganization, and despair). Based on these findings, we created the Grief Attack Questionnaire (GAQ), which demonstrated solid reliability and convergent validity. A GAQ total score of ≥ 35 was found to yield a strong sensitivity rate, but a modest specificity rate, in classifying persons with and without impairing levels of grief.

This qualitative study explored older adults' lived experiences navigating daily life after the death of their loved one and their perspectives participating in a digital health intervention (DHI) to promote emotional health. We performed semi structured, one-on-one interviews with 14 older bereaved adults. Audio recordings were transcribed and coded using content and thematic analyses. We then explored relationships between codes to identify categories and themes. Five themes emerged: 1) participants were actively involved in social/leisure activities until their partner became ill; 2) the immediate aftermath of the death is characterized by estate handling and intense grief; 3) participants struggled with loneliness; 4) the death generated new responsibilities; and 5) the DHI improved mindfulness and daily routines. Future research efforts are needed to reduce loneliness to help maintain the health and quality of life for aging widow(er)s.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov ID: STUDY 19080030.