Abstract

This study surveyed 155 family members or caregivers of patients who had died between twelve and thirty months prior to this study. These patients had been on hospice at the time of their death. The purpose of the study was to assess the prevalence of hospice defined risk factors for complicated grief. Medical records provided patient demographics information and a verbal (telephone) survey was used to measure the following risk factors: lack of social support, lack of expression of faith, lack of adequate coping skills, multiple losses, substance use, and relationship to the person who died. Descriptive statistics were used to assess the prevalence of risk factors and linear regression was used to evaluate the potential of risk factors to predict complicated grief. Results indicated that coping skills were a highly significant predictor of complicated grief. To a lesser extent, the gender of the patient was also a significant predictor of complicated grief. Pragmatic, clinical and theoretical implications of these results are discussed.

LLU Discipline

Marriage and Family Therapy

Department

Marriage and Family Therapy

School

School of Behavioral Health

First Advisor

Brian Distelberg

Second Advisor

Carla Gober-Park

Third Advisor

Douglas Huenergardt

Fourth Advisor

Jackie Williams-Reade

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Degree Level

Ph.D.

Year Degree Awarded

2018

Date (Title Page)

6-2018

Language

English

Library of Congress/MESH Subject Headings

Bereavement; Resilience, Psychological; Hospices

Type

Dissertation

Page Count

x, 124 p.

Digital Format

PDF

Digital Publisher

Loma Linda University Libraries

Usage Rights

This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights.

Collection

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Collection Website

http://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/

Repository

Loma Linda University. Del E. Webb Memorial Library. University Archives

Download

Share

COinS