Perceptions of Ideal Grief and Continuing Bonds: Undergraduate Student Survey in a Medicalizing Context
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2018-09-07
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Abstract
In response to the current movement towards medicalization of grief and the DSM’s call for research on the proposed diagnosis Persistent Complex Bereavement Disorder (PCBD), this study examined to what extent people perceive PCBD criteria as in fact pathological. The study also measured the association between perceptions of grief and continuing bonds, and the influence of several cultural factors on these perceptions. To access underlying cultural influences, 385 undergraduate students responded to grief and continuing bonds questionnaires as “an ideally emotionally and psychologically healthy person of your own gender in your culture” would respond 12 months after the death of a loved one. Contrary to the DSM’s conceptualization of PCBD’s criteria as pathological, results suggested students perceive PCBD criteria and continuing bonds as normal and in fact healthy and highlighted a variety of factors that influence grief and continuing bonds perceptions. Findings of this study provide insight into the potential impacts of medicalizing grief as a disorder.
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Buote, L. C. (2018). Perceptions of Ideal Grief and Continuing Bonds: Undergraduate Student Survey in a Medicalizing Context (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/32924