Assessment of Grief Reactions Following the Death of First-degree Relatives Due to COVID-19

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has made the grief process more complicated and brought about loads of unexpressed grief.

The present study aimed to determine the severity of grief reactions following the death of first-degree relatives (FDRs)due to COVID-19.

This analytic cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the grief score of people aged over 18 with the experience of losing one of their FDRs (i.e., father, mother, and siblings) due to COVID-19. Convenience sampling wasemployed to select the participants. The instrument used in this study was the Grief Experience Questionnaire (GEQ-34) which was completed via phone calls. The inclusion criteria entailed a willingness to participate in the study, the age range of above 18, and experience of FDR’s death. On the other hand, the exclusion criteria were severe discomfort and restlessness while talking on the phone. Descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression were employed to diagnose the factors affecting grief using SPSS software (version 22) with a significance level of 0.05.

The findings indicated that the mean score of GEQ was 67.22±19.24(ranging from 34 to 126). In this study, 54.5%, 40.2%, and 5.3% of subjects experienced low, moderate, and severe levels of grief, respectively. The grief score showed a positive relationship with the gender of the mourners and marital status; nonetheless, it was negatively correlated with subjects’ employment and the age of theirdeceased FDRs.

As evidenced by the obtained results, among the subscales of mourning, the highest scores were related to the dimensions of justification, coping, and guilt. Communication and social support were reduced due to the COVID-19 pandemic; therefore, the provision of online mental health services can be a useful way to treat and help the bereaved.