Perceptions of grief among university students

Abstract

Abstract Although research on grief has proliferated in recent years, few studies have attempted to examine the grief perceptions of people surrounding the bereaved. In this investigation, 123 undergraduates responded to an open-ended survey that assessed their perceptions of various aspects of grief, including physical and emotional features, time course, interpersonal impact, coping strategies, and methods of intervening. Results revealed that many students possess an understanding of the grief process. It is speculated that this understanding may stem from the heightened attention that the media and others have focused on death and dying in recent years, and may also be due to participants having personally experienced different forms of grief in their lives.