Grief and Risk of Depression in Context

The Emotional Outcomes of Bereaved Cancer Caregivers

Bibliographic Data

ID13630390
AuthorsLinda E Francis (0000-0003-0346-6642, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH, USA, corresponding author), George Kypriotakis (0000-0002-2011-4545, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston), Georgios Kypriotakis (University of Texas Health Sciences Center, Houston, TX, USA), Elizabeth O’Toole (Case Western Reserve University), Elizabeth E O’Toole (Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA), Karen F Bowman (Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA), Julia Hannum Rose (Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA)
Year2015
Volume70
Issue4
Pages351-379
Publication date2015-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueOMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0030-2228 • E-ISSN: 1541-3764
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0030222815573720
PMID26036059
OpenAlexW2001378818
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited89

We investigated the relationships of grief and depression to cancer caregiving in early bereavement. We began with three expectations: (a) each outcome would reflect different situational predictors, (b) grief would be more directly related to such predictors, and (c) components of grief would relate differently to the caregiving context and depressed mood. We conducted telephone interviews with family caregivers of incurable cancer patients from two hospitals. A total of 199 family caregivers were interviewed at the time of the patient's diagnosis and reinterviewed 3 months after the patient's death. Results showed grief severity was predicted by caregiving circumstances, but bereavement depressed mood was largely unrelated to caregiving. Grief was the main predictor of depressed mood and mediated almost all other effects. We conclude that while grief may trigger depression, the dissimilar connection to context means that the two emotional states should not be equated based purely on similarity of expression

Context (archaeology · Depression (economics · Disenfranchised grief · Grief · Mood · Psychiatry · Psychotherapist · Situational ethics · Clinical Psychology · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · Migration, Health and Trauma · Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues · Psychology · Social Psychology

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