Pandemic grief in El Salvador: factors that predict dysfunctional grief due to a COVID-19 death among Salvadoran adults

Marlon Elías Lobos-Rivera, Angélica Nohemy Flores-Monterrosa, Jennifer Carolina Tejada-Rodríguez, Edgardo René Chacón-Andrade, Tomás Caycho-Rodríguez, Sherman A. Lee, Pablo D. Valencia, Carlos Carbajal-León, Lindsey W. Vilca, Mario Reyes-Bossio, Miguel Gallegos

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

Thousands of people have died of COVID-19 in El Salvador. However, little is known about the mental health of those who are mourning the loss of a loved one to COVID-19. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine the dysfunctional grief associated with COVID-19 death among Salvadoran adults. A sample of 435 Salvadorans (M = 29 years; SD = 8.75) who lost a family member or loved one to COVID-19 completed a digital survey using the Google Forms platform, during April 2 and 28, 2022. The results revealed that 35.1% reported clinically elevated symptoms of dysfunctional grief and among those mourners, and 25.1% also exhibited clinical levels of coronavirus anxiety. A binary logistic regression revealed that predictor variables such as COVID-19 anxiety (p =.003), depression (p =.021), and COVID-19 obsession (p =.032) were significant (χ2 = 84.31; Nagelkerke R2 =.242) and predict a 24.2% chance of dysfunctional bereavement.

Original languageEnglish
Article number9
JournalPsicologia: Reflexao e Critica
Volume36
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2023

Keywords

  • Anxiety
  • COVID-19
  • Grief
  • Pandemic
  • Salvadorans

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