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


METHODS
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.
Middleton
W
W
Department of Psychiatry, University of Queensland, Australia.
Burnett
P
P
Raphael
B
B
Martinek
N
N
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001601:Bereavement; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D005260:Female; D006117:Grief; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013997:Time Factors