Eric Yellin
An Exploration of Caregiver Grief, Depression, and Outcomes Associated with Child Mortality in Rural Uganda
Chair: Geoffrey Goodman, Ph.D.
Abstract
A parent’s loss of a child is widely seen as producing the most significant grief a person can experience. The purpose of this study was to explore how grief following the loss of a child is experienced in sub-Saharan Africa, where half of the world’s child deaths under the age of 5 occur. Researchers examined the connection between grief and negative psychological and physical health outcomes as well as mitigating factors in those who had experienced the loss of a child and those who have experienced other losses, including sibling and parental. Sixty-three caregivers who had experienced some form of loss were recruited in two rural Ugandan villages and were interviewed using the Inventory of Complicated Grief-Revised (ICG-R) along with depression and trauma measures. Additional data on physical health and social support were analyzed from a separate study on emergent literacy acquisition that utilized the same sample.
The results of this study provided evidence that despite cultural differences in child-rearing and expectations about death, bereaved caregivers experience similar elevated levels of grief as their Western counterparts when compared to other losses. Grief over the loss of a child was found to be similar to other losses. Significant relationships were demonstrated, regardless of the nature of the loss, between complicated grief and depression and trauma reactions. Social support was also shown to buffer against the effects of complicated grief on depression. Limitations of the study and implications of how the results can enhance the understanding of grief and parental bereavement as well as possible interventions in the region where mortality rates are highest in the world are discussed.