Grief Responses during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Differences in Attachment and Emotion Regulation

Abstract

This study assessed grief reactions amongst individuals who lost a loved one to COVID-19. Differences in attachment-related anxiety, avoidance, and emotion dysregulation were compared between absence, delayed, prolonged, and resolved grief reactions. 146 participants completed self-report measures after they experienced the loss of a parent, sibling, child, or spouse. A series of one-way analyses of variance indicated that there were significant differences in emotion dysregulation and attachment-related anxiety between grief reactions. Additionally, the resolved grief group had the lowest levels of emotion dysregulation. The findings highlight the importance of examining relational and emotional factors in the context of bereavement.

Keywords:

• COVID-19
• grief
• attachment
• anxiety
• avoidance
• emotion dysregulation

Disclosure statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

William Katzman

William Katzman: Mr. Katzman is a second-year clinical psychology Ph.D. student at Long Island University, Brooklyn. He graduated with High Distinction and Honors from the University of Michigan where he majored in Psychology and minored in Judaic Studies. He is interested in research related to trauma, attachment, reflective functioning, and emotion regulation. He has taken seminars learning how to score the Adult Attachment Interview and the Reflective Functioning Scale and plans to use these instruments in future research.

Nicholas Papouchis

Nicholas Papouchis: Dr. Papouchis is a professor in the department of clinical psychology at Long Island University, Brooklyn. He has served as chair of the Education and Training Committee of Division 39 of APA and is a member of the postdoctoral faculty of the Derner Institute at Adelphi University, the Manhattan Institute for Psychoanalysis, and the Center for Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis of New Jersey. He has also been a member of the advisory board of the International Society for Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy. He is on the editorial board of the Journal of Infant, Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy and is an occasional reviewer for the journals Psychoanalytic Dialogues and Psychoanalytic Psychology.