Grief Experience Inventory Research Articles

Grief Experience Inventory

(1988). Grief Experience Inventory. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development: Vol. 21, No. 2, pp. 91-93.

Effects of Sudden vs. Chronic Illness Death on Bereavement Outcome

Eighty-six bereaved participants were interviewed shortly after the death of a close family member and again eighteen months later. The Grief Experience Inventory and MMPI were administered on both occasions. Responses were separated into three groups according to the mode of death; sudden death (N = 33), long-term chronic illness (N = 27), and short-term chronic illness death (N = 26). Analysis of data yielded no statistically significant differences among groups but indicated some important trends. The short-term chronic illness group made the most favorable adjustment to bereavement. While the sudden death and long-term chronic illness death groups sustained higher intensities of bereavement at eighteen months, there appeared to be both qualitative and quantitative differences between the reactions of these two groups. The sudden death group indicated an internalized emotional response described as an “anger-in” or intropunitive response causing them to sustain prolonged physical stress. The long-term chronic illness group expressed an “anger-out” response which, while creating a picture of dejection, frustration, and loneliness, did not cause them to sustain the prolonged physiological component.

Comparison of Younger and Older Spouses in Bereavement Outcome

Forty-five bereaved spouses were interviewed shortly after the death and again eighteen months later. The Grief Experience Inventory and MMPI were administered at both interviews, responses being subsequently divided into two age categories, sixty-five years and older and sixty-three years and younger. Matched controls were utilized. Younger spouses initially manifested greater grief intensities but at eighteen months a reverse trend was noted; older spouses showed exacerbated grief reactions. While denial seemed to operate as a defense against their anxiety, nevertheless elevations on the Social Isolation, Depersonalization, Death Anxiety, and Loss of Vigor scales of the GEI for older spouses point to the debilitating effects of loneliness and fear for one's personal safety. Maslow's needs hierarchy was used to explain the two levels of motivation seen among younger and older spouses.

A Comparison of Adult Bereavement in the Death of a Spouse, Child, and Parent

The Grief Experience Inventory (GEI) and the MMPI were used to assess bereavement reactions in 102 newly bereaved individuals; 107 controls were also assessed. Intensities of bereavement reactions were compared across three types of deaths experienced, i.e., spouse, child, and parent. Significantly higher intensities of grief were noted in parents surviving their child's death. A distinct number of physiological symptoms were noted in the bereaved group as compared to controls. Frequent church attenders were more likely to respond with higher optimism and social desirability but more repression of bereavement responses than were less frequent church attenders. Income did not appear to contribute negatively to bereavement itself but rather to the constellation of debilitating variables which surrounds those with low income. There were no differences in bereavement intensities between those who survived a chronic-illness death as compared with sudden death situations.