Evaluating the relationship between family resilience and grief-related symptoms: A preliminary analysis

Abstract

Walsh’s Family Resilience Framework offers clinicians a comprehensive theoretical approach for supporting bereaved families. In this study, a total of 139 bereaved adults who lost a family member in the last 5 years were surveyed about their family’s resilience processes, their current outlook on life, and their current grief-related symptoms. The data from this sample were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural regression. Family resilience processes were negatively related to grief symptoms; however, this relationship was mediated by personal meaning. The results suggest that Walsh’s Family Resilience Framework may be an appropriate conceptual tool to assess family resilience in bereavement practice.