Grief
Conditions
Keywords
Young Bereaved Spouses
Brief summary
The purpose of the research is to learn more about the experience of grief in young bereaved spouses/partners. Recent research has shown that young bereaved spouses/partners experience grief uniquely from other age groups, but it is still unclear how certain factors affect the experience of grief. The investigators research team is interested in studying how the psychological factors of trauma, personality, and meaning of the loss affect grief reactions in young spouses/partners after the loss of a spouse to cancer.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALin-person or telephone interview
Participants will be administered one battery of questionnaires that should take 50- 55 minutes, which may be broken down into two or more segments if necessary. They may choose to have these questionnaires administered to them in person at the hospital, in person at their home, or via telephone by a trained master's level research assistant.
Sponsors
Calvary Hospital, Bronx, NY
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Study design
Observational model
COHORT
Time perspective
PROSPECTIVE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
20 Years to 49 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Participants must be at least 20 years old and no older than 49 years and 11 months old. * Participants must have lost a spouse/domestic partner to cancer 6 months to 3 years earlier. * Participants must be able to give informed consent. * Participants must be able to comprehend English to complete study assessments.
Exclusion criteria
* Major psychopathology or cognitive impairment likely in the judgment of the research staff to interfere with the participation or completion of the protocol.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| To determine the rate and levels of prolonged grief in young bereaved spouses/partners of cancer patients | conclusion of the study |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| To determine associations among prolonged grief, personality characteristics , previous trauma, & subjective meanings of the loss to the bereaved spouse in young bereaved spouses/partners of cancer | conclusion of the study |
| To evaluate whether unique themes emerge among those reporting prolonged grief | conclusion of the study |
| To evaluate whether unique themes emerge among those reporting obsessive and histrionic personality traits | conclusion of the study |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed