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The Bereavement Response: A Cluster Analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Warwick Middleton ,
Paul Burnett ,
Beverley Raphael  and
Nada Martinek
Warwick Middleton*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Queensland
Paul Burnett
Affiliation:
School of Learning and Development, Queensland University of Technology
Beverley Raphael
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Queensland, Australia
Nada Martinek
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Queensland, Australia
*
Dr Warwick Middleton, Suite 4D, 87 Wickham Terrace, Brisbane, 4000, Australia
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Abstract

Background

Literature and clinical experience suggest that some people experience atypical, complicated or pathological bereavement reactions in response to a major loss.

Method

Three groups of community-based bereaved subjects – spouses (n=44), adult children (n=40), and parents (n=36) – were followed up four times in the 13 months after a loss. A 17-item scale of core bereavement times was developed and used to investigate the intensity of the bereavement response over time.

Results

Cluster analysis revealed a pattern of bereavement-related symptoms approximating a syndrome of chronic grief in 11 (9.2%) of the 120 subjects. None of the respondents displayed a pattern consistent with delayed or absent grief.

Conclusions

In a non-clinical community sample of bereaved people, delayed or absent grief is infrequently seen, unlike chronic grief, which is demonstrated in a minority.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 169 , Issue 2 , August 1996 , pp. 167 - 171
Copyright
Copyright © 1996 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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