When college students grieve: New insights into the effects of loss during emerging adulthood

Abstract The present study used a revised online version of the College Student Bereavement Survey (the CSBS-R) to study the effects of student grief on college academics and social life. Of the 969 respondents, 408 (42%) reported grieving a relatively recent death of a person of significance in their lives. Hierarchical multiple regressions using gender, multiple deaths, closeness to the deceased, and/or social media use as independent variables revealed closeness to the deceased explaining a significant proportion of the variance of academic and social/peer experiences. Findings underscore the need for student bereavement policies, and how social media and closeness to the deceased affect the college experience.

[1]  Terry L. Martin,et al.  The Influence of Gender and Socialization on Grieving Styles , 2021, Grief and Bereavement in Contemporary Society.

[2]  Changwon Son,et al.  Effects of COVID-19 on College Students’ Mental Health in the United States: Interview Survey Study , 2020, Journal of medical Internet research.

[3]  Karen M. O’Brien,et al.  Bereaved College Students: Social Support, Coping Style, Continuing Bonds, and Social Media Use as Predictors of Complicated Grief and Posttraumatic Growth , 2020, Omega.

[4]  T. McClam,et al.  Characteristics of Graduate Counseling Student Grief Experiences , 2020 .

[5]  M. Fernández-Alcántara,et al.  Prolonged grief related to COVID-19 deaths: Do we have to fear a steep rise in traumatic and disenfranchised griefs? , 2020, Psychological trauma : theory, research, practice and policy.

[6]  Joyce Lee.  Mental health effects of school closures during COVID-19 , 2020, The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health.

[7]  S. Enck,et al.  Is my grief too public for you? The digitalization of grief on Facebook™ , 2020, Death studies.

[8]  Heather L. Servaty-Seib,et al.  College Students’ Feedback on a Student Bereavement Leave Policy , 2020, Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice.

[9]  Heather L. Servaty-Seib,et al.  Advocating for Bereavement Leave Policies for College Students , 2019, Journal of College Student Development.

[10]  M. Varga,et al.  Grieving College Students Use of Social Media , 2019, Illness, Crisis & Loss.

[11]  Heather L. Servaty-Seib,et al.  College student grief, grief differences, family communication, and family satisfaction , 2018, Death studies.

[12]  Heather L. Servaty-Seib,et al.  College and the grieving student: A mixed-methods analysis , 2016, Death studies.

[13]  D. Irish,et al.  Hmong Death Customs: Traditional and Acculturated , 2014 .

[14]  John D. Hathcoat,et al.  College Student Bereavement Experience in a Christian University , 2012, Omega.

[15]  D. Balk.  Helping the Bereaved College Student , 2011 .

[16]  D. Balk,et al.  Prevalence and Severity of College Student Bereavement Examined in a Randomly Selected Sample , 2010, Death studies.

[17]  Deborah J. Taub,et al.  Bereavement and College Students: The Role of Counseling Psychology , 2010 .

[18]  J. Jordan,et al.  What do suicide survivors tell us they need? Results of a pilot study. , 2008, Suicide & life-threatening behavior.

[19]  Joseph M. Currier,et al.  Lessons of Loss: Meaning-Making in Bereaved College Students. , 2008 .

[20]  Deborah J. Taub,et al.  Developmental and contextual perspectives on bereaved college students , 2008 .

[21]  M. Pistole,et al.  Adolescent Grief: Relationship Category and Emotional Closeness , 2007, Omega.

[22]  Heather L. Servaty-Seib,et al.  Hardiness and Grief in a Sample of Bereaved College Students , 2007, Death studies.

[23]  Heather L. Servaty-Seib,et al.  Educational Performance and Persistence of Bereaved College Students , 2006 .

[24]  V. Braun,et al.  Using thematic analysis in psychology , 2006 .

[25]  J. Arnett.  Emerging Adulthood: The Winding Road from the Late Teens through the Twenties , 2004 .

[26]  D. Balk.  COLLEGE STUDENT BEREAVEMENT, SCHOLARSHIP, AND THE UNIVERSITY: A CALL FOR UNIVERSITY ENGAGEMENT , 2001, Death studies.

[27]  J. Arnett.  Emerging adulthood. A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. , 2000, The American psychologist.

[28]  H. Schut,et al.  The dual process model of coping with bereavement: rationale and description. , 1999, Death studies.

[29]  L. Bugen.  Human grief: a model for prediction and intervention. , 1977, The American journal of orthopsychiatry.

[30]  K. Gilbert,et al.  Dying, death, and grief in an online universe : for counselors and educators , 2012 .

[31]  Lawrence G. Calhoun,et al.  TARGET ARTICLE: "Posttraumatic Growth: Conceptual Foundations and Empirical Evidence" , 2004 .

[32]  D. Balk.  Death, bereavement and college students: A descriptive Analysis , 1997 .

[33]  D. Klass,et al.  Continuing Bonds : New Understandings of Grief , 1996 .

[34]  J. Garbarino.  The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design: by Urie Bronfenbrenner Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1979, 330 + p. , 1980 .