Developing and implementing a bereavement support program for college students

Association between Grief and Somatic Complaints in Bereaved University and College Students

Many emerging adults experience the death of a loved one while they are enrolled as a student in higher education. Bereavement increases the risk of long-term adverse physical and mental health outcomes. Still, as most studies have focused on psychological aspects of grief, little is known about the impact of grief on somatic complaints in students, leaving them vulnerable to health deteriorations. This study aimed to address this gap, and we hypothesized that there is a positive association between grief and somatic complaints in bereaved students. Participants (N = 688) were students enrolled at Flemish universities and colleges in Belgium. Participants filled out an online survey with sociodemographic questions, two scales assessing grief, and somatic grief reactions, and two additional questions inquiring whether participants had experienced other somatic reactions, and whether they had taken any steps to remedy their somatic complaints. Regression analyses revealed that less social support, type of relationship (first-degree relative), and the level of grief were positively associated with somatic complaints, and bereaved students reported various complaints such as feeling pain and strains, thus confirming the hypothesis. As bereaved students may be reluctant to seek support for somatic complaints, the findings indicate that information and psychoeducation for bereaved students and their social environment must address somatic grief reactions and encourage timely help seeking. In addition, staff members at psychosocial and medical services for students should be trained to recognize somatic as well as psychological grief reactions. Appropriately skilled, they can inquire about such complaints and provide adequate support to prevent long-term health ramifications.

Personal growth in bereaved students: Associations with support, grief, and distress

Experiencing the death of a loved one can have a substantial negative impact on the grief and mental health of students. However, the bereavement can also lead to personal growth. We investigated the association between personal growth and support, grief, and distress. Bereaved students (N = 666) at Flemish universities and colleges (Belgium) completed an online survey with sociodemographic questions and four scales assessing personal growth, support, grief, and distress. Support and grief positively predicted personal growth. Emotional closeness correlated positively with personal growth. Our findings indicate a need for supporting bereaved students in their process of personal growth.

Characteristics of Graduate Counseling Student Grief Experiences

This study explored the incidence of grief and resulting effects experienced by graduate counseling students. A total of 157 students from three universities completed surveys about their grief experiences. The authors calculated descriptive statistics, as well as Kruskal–Wallis H tests and Spearman’s rank-order correlation coefficient, to identify relationships between variables. Results indicated that approximately 86% ( n = 129) of students had experienced loss within their lifetime. Participants reported emotional, cognitive, physical, behavioral, interpersonal, and world assumption grief effects, with statistically significant relationships to both type of loss and reported closeness to the deceased. These findings provide new information on the specific and multidimensional grief effects these students experienced and offer practical insight into how grieving students can be best supported during their counseling training.