Citation

Scharer JL, Hibberd R. Death Stud. 2019; ePub(ePub): 1-9.

Affiliation

Durham VA Medical Center , Durham , NC , USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/07481187.2019.1586791

PMID

30924727

Abstract

The present study examined the utility of meaning to differentiate between depression and grief in a sample of suicide survivors (N = 555). Three regression models were tested, each with a different measure of meaning predicting depression and grief. Across three models, meaning was negatively associated with depression but positively associated with grief. Additionally, grief and depression were negatively correlated across all models.

RESULTS support a conceptual distinction between grief and depression, with the presence or absence of meaning in life as a key distinguishing factor between the two in a population with a relatively high risk for pathological grieving.

Language: en

Keywords

Depression; grief; meaning; suicide