Studies // Cited work
Health outcomes of bereavement
Stroebe, M., Schut, H., & Stroebe, W. (2007). Health outcomes of bereavement.
Level D Review doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(07)61816-9
What this study supports
Supports the claims that grief is not a disease, that most people adjust without professional intervention, that bereavement is associated with excess mortality risk especially early after a loss, and that intervention should target people at high risk or with complicated grief. Narrative synthesis.
- Who was studied
- Not applicable: a narrative review of bereavement and physical and mental health.
- Design
- Review
- Level of evidence
- Cross-sectional, observational, qualitative work and narrative reviews.
Claims that rest on it
Each claim states what the site asserts, at what strength, and with what caveat.
EmpiricalLevel CConfidence MODERATE
Bereavement is associated with excess health risks, yet most bereaved people adjust without professional psychological intervention, and in a prospective study of spousal loss resilience was the most frequent trajectory.
- Scope
- Adult bereavement; the trajectory data come from older adults who lost a spouse.
- Caveat
- Trajectories after sudden, violent or child deaths may differ, and resilience describes measured symptoms and functioning, not the absence of missing the person.
Last reviewed · Review due · most-bereaved-adapt-without-intervention