Depression and Grief—Overlapping Phenomena or Lack of Individuation?

Abstract

Depression and death-related grief are often treated as the same phenomenon or, in the case of grief, ignored all together. The result of this is that individuals experiencing grief may be treated for depression, if treated at all. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether these two phenomena can be distinguished in persons diagnosed with human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS). The Beck Inventory II and the Revised Grief Experience Inventory (RGEI) measured depression and grief respectively. The scores from the four RGEI subscales were correlated with the scores from the three BDI subscales, creating a 4 × 3 matrix. Results suggest that only one of the RGEI subscales (Depression) achieved moderate correlations with two of the BDI subscales, Somatic Elements ( r = .33) and Negative Attitudes ( r = .32). These results provide strong evidence that the RGEI and the BDI produce scores with discriminant validity.