TY  - JOUR
A1  - Wittkowski, Joachim
A1  - Scheuchenpflug, Rainer
T1  - Evidence on the Conceptual Distinctness of Normal Grief From Depression
T2  - European Journal of Health Psychology
N2  - Background: The distinctness of grief from depression has been the subject of a long scholarly debate, even influencing definitions of diagnostic criteria. Aims: This study aims at clarifying the issue by a multifaceted analysis of data from a large German sample. Method: A community sample of 406 bereaved persons answered the Wuerzburg Grief Inventory (WGI), a multidimensional grief questionnaire designed to measure normal grief in the German language, and the General Depression Scale – Short Version (GDS-S), a self-report depression scale. Data were analyzed by factor analysis to identify structural (dis-)similarities of the constructs, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) to identify the influence of the factors relationship to the deceased, type of death, and time since loss on grief measures and depression scores. Results: Factor analysis clustered items referring to grief-related impairments and depression into one factor, items referring to other dimensions of grief on separate factors, however. Relationship to the deceased influenced the grief measures impairments and nearness to the deceased, but not depression scores if controlled for impairments. Type of death showed specific effects on grief scores, but not on depression scores. Time since loss influenced grief scores, but not depression scores. Limitations: The analysis is based on a self-selected community sample of grieving persons, self-report measures, and in part, on cross-sectional data. Conclusion: Factor analysis and objective data show a clear distinction of dimensions of grief and depression. The human experience of grief contains a sense of nearness to the lost person, feelings of guilt, and positive aspects of the loss experience in addition to components resembling depression.
KW  - depression
KW  - grief
KW  - time since loss
KW  - type of death
KW  - Wuerzburg Grief Inventory (WGI)
Y1  - 2021
UR  - https://opus.bibliothek.uni-wuerzburg.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/23653
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-236531
SN  - 2512-8442
SN  - 2512-8450
VL  - 28
IS  - 3
SP  - 101-110
ER  -