PHYSIOLOGICAL AND COMPLICATED GRIEF DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC: AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

Abstract

In the early 2020 a new coronavirus, Sars-Cov-2, has spread all over the world causing the current pandemic situation. The current social distancing has changed the way people die and may influence the grief of COVID-19 patients’ caregivers. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible predictor factors of complicated grief disorder in a preliminary sample of 31 caregivers of patients died six months earlier, because of COVID -19. The 48.4% of the sample met the criteria of complicated grief. Being single or widowed and have lived during the lockdown alone, or only with the partner or with the child/children and feeling guilty of having survived to the loved ones have been associated with the presence of complicated grief. On the contrary, having attended the funeral was a protective factor for the development of complicated grief. In this sense, the social support, and the occasions of sharing emotional experiences seemed to have a protective function against the development of complicated grief. As underlined by the Individual Psychology, the Social Feeling is a core element and a protective factor in facing an experience such as that of the pandemic and the loss of loved ones for COVID-19