GRIEF, POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS AND POSTTRAUMATIC GROWTH AMONG BEREAVED FAMILIES DUE TO COVID-19

Abstract

The aim of the current research was to investigate the nature of relationships among grief, post-traumatic stress and post-traumatic growth. Mean group differences on study variables based on circumstantial factors and demographic characteristics of the participants and the deceased including gender were inquired. A sample of 331 participants above 16 years, who had lost family members, near relative and close friends due to Covid-19, were selected. Translation process of scale, prolonged grief scale was carried out through back-translation design. Adapted Urdu versions of prolonged grief scale (Prigerson et al., 2021), post-traumatic stress disorder Checklist-DSM-5 (Weathers et al., 2013) and post-traumatic growth inventory-short form (Cann et al., 2010), along with a demographic sheet were used. Translation process of prolonged grief scale was carried out through back-translation design. The results showed that grief was positively significantly correlated with post-traumatic stress and significantly negatively correlated with posttraumatic growth; post-traumatic stress had significantly negatively correlated with post-traumatic growth. Results of t-test showed that females had significantly more intense grief and post-traumatic stress, whereas males reported greater experience of post-traumatic growth. Result also showed that there were significantly more grief and posttraumatic stress, where death of male occurred. Limitations of the current study were also highlighted and suggestions for future research are mentioned.