FAMILY COPING AND BEREAVEMENT OUTCOME

Using a three-phase longitudinal design, the bereavement of 115 adult Australian families following the death of a parent from cancer was st udied. The cohort comprised 115 spouses and 153 offspring, 670 individ ual responses were obtained. A range of psychosocial variables was stu died through a semistructured interview covering the experience of the deceased's illness, death and funeral, spousal health, family coping, sources of support, use of ritual and completion of estate duties. Be reavement outcome was measured by standardized questionnaires of the i ntensity of grief (Bereavement Phenomenology Questionnaire), depressio n (Beck Depression Inventory), psychological distress (Brief Symptom I nventory) and social adjustment (Social Adjustment Scale). Those psych osocial variables found to be significantly correlated with bereavemen t outcome were entered into best sub-set regression analyses. Family c oping was the most consistent correlate of bereavement outcome in thes e regression analyses, which accounted for up to 38% of the variance i n grief, 64% in distress, 53% in depression and 46% in social adjustme nt. The nature of family functioning is a key aspect of social support in influencing the outcome of bereavement.