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. 2017 Dec;29(8):1288-1307.
doi: 10.1177/0898264317720715. Epub 2017 Jul 18.

Determinants and Predictors of Grief Severity and Persistence: The Rotterdam Study

Jelena Milic  1 , Taulant Muka  1 , M Arfan Ikram  1 , Oscar H Franco  1 , Henning Tiemeier  1   2   3
Affiliations

Determinants and Predictors of Grief Severity and Persistence: The Rotterdam Study

Jelena Milic et al. J Aging Health. 2017 Dec.

Abstract

Objective: We aimed to explore correlates and predictors of bereavement severity and persistence (triggered by "loss of a loved one"; referent group partner loss) in the Rotterdam cohort.

Method: We used linear regression to examine factors associated with grief severity using a cross-sectional analysis and logistic regression to determine prospective associations.

Results: Cross-sectionaly, females, child-lost, higher depressive symptoms, lower education, and difficulties in daily activities were independently associated with a higher bereavement severity. Prospectively (6 years; response rate 71%), the baseline value of the grief severity was the single predictor significantly associated with grief persistence.

Discussion: Our results suggest that only grief severity is independently associated with grief persistence. Further studies are needed to confirm our findings.

Keywords: end of life; epidemiology; families; geriatrics; mental health.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Characteristics of study participants: For cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Note. MMSE = Mini-Mental State Examination.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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