Does ‘time heal all wounds?’ The prevalence and predictors of prolonged grief among drug-death bereaved family members: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Despite rising rates of drug-related deaths (DRDs), the consequences of DRDs for bereaved family members are scarcely investigated. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of prolonged grief (PG) symptoms in bereaved family members after DRDs, identify predictors of PG and examine whether symptom levels decrease with time. A cross-sectional design based on survey data from parents (n = 93), siblings (n = 78), children (n = 24) and other family members (n = 39) was conducted (n = 234). Descriptive analyses, a multivariate linear regression, and ANOVA were performed. 60 family members (26%) suffered from high levels of PG symptoms after DRDs (parents 31.2%, siblings 21.8%, children 20.9%). The strongest associations were found between a high level of symptoms and ‘months since the loss’, ‘suicidal thoughts’ and ‘withdrawal from others’. The ANOVA analyses showed that time does not always ‘heal all wounds’, and the bereaved who lost one to 2 years ago had the highest level of PG symptoms.