Continuing bonds in men grieving a loved one.
Daniel Martínez-Esquivel, Derby Muñoz-Rojas, Alfonso Miguel García-Hernández
PMID 37820217WHAT IT FOUND
Men grieving a loved one often kept an inner bond with the deceased.
Visible expressions of the bond were less frequent. Bond reports differed by who died, not by cause or time since death. This may inform bereavement support.
Key findings
01The men reported mean internalized continuing bonds of 24.85 and mean externalized continuing bonds of 7.68.
02Internalized and externalized continuing bonds differed by kinship with the deceased person, with a p-value of 0.001.
03No significant differences or correlations were found between continuing bonds and cause of death or time since the death.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot show that continuing bonds cause better or worse grief adjustment. Participants were recruited through support groups, institutions, and social networks, so self-selection may have over-represented men willing to discuss grief. Data were self-reported online, and men receiving Mental Health Nursing, Psychology, or Psychiatry grief therapy were excluded, so the findings may not apply to men in active professional grief treatment. The sample was limited to Costa Rican men, and the paper notes that generalisation may not fit other groups.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that continuing bonds are healthy or unhealthy for grieving men. The study measured associations at one time point and found no significant relationships with cause of death or time since death, so it cannot show whether bonds help or hinder grief adjustment.