Am J Psychiatry 1989; 146:1484-1488
Copyright © 1989 by American Psychiatric Association
Exploring the multidimensional aspects of grief reactions
LA Vargas, F Loya and J Hodde-Vargas
Department of Psychiatry, University of California, Los Angeles.
The authors explored the multidimensional aspects of early grief reactions
in 201 relatives and close friends of victims of accidental deaths,
suicides, homicides, and sudden natural deaths. A principal components
analysis of a grief reaction measure revealed four factors: depressive
symptoms, preservation of the lost object, suicidal ideation, and
decedent-directed anger. The authors suggest that certain features which
have been associated mostly with pathological grief (e.g., difficulty
relinquishing the lost object) may be present in many, if not most, of the
general population during bereavement and that pathology may best be
determined by measuring the frequency and intensity of these features.
