Bereavement among widowed Latinos in the United States: A systematic review of methodology and findings

Religious Involvement and the Impact on Living Alone and Depression: An Examination of Gendered Pathways Post-Widowhood

This study analyzed data from the nationally representative Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to examine the association between widowhood and depression. The results revealed that both men and women experienced increased depression after widowhood, with women exhibiting a better recovery pattern over time. Religiosity, especially attending religious services, was found to be a beneficial coping mechanism for both genders, although men were less religious than women. Living alone was a significant factor associated with depression in widowhood for both men and women. High religious service attendance moderated the association between living alone and depression for women, while both high and moderate religious service attendance moderated this association for men. These findings emphasize the importance of considering gender differences and the potential benefits of religious involvement in addressing depression during widowhood, highlighting the need for tailored interventions and support services for widows and widowers, particularly those living alone.

A Socioecological Examination of the Challenges Associated With Young Widowhood: A Systematic Review

This systematic review employs a socio-ecological framework to investigate the challenges that arise due to early spousal loss. The research team conducted a systematic review of studies published between 2013 and 2023 to uncover factors that influence the grieving process in bereaved spouses. The results reveal that concurrent with the grief and devastation associated with partner loss, young widows and widowers also face a harsh reality filled with secondary losses, financial difficulty, mental health distress, emotional anguish, and identity crises. These hardships are exacerbated by social norms that disenfranchise the grief of young widows and widowers. These norms are then enacted interpersonally and codified in policy. The review's findings underscore the necessity for increased community grief education and support, focused clinical attention, and policy advocacy.

Human Connection: Oncologist Characteristics and Behaviors Associated With Therapeutic Bonding With Latino Patients With Advanced Cancer

PURPOSE

Therapeutic alliances (TAs) between oncologists and patients are bonds characterized by mutual caring, trust, and respect. We here relate oncologist characteristics and behaviors to TA among Latino and non-Latino patients with advanced cancer.

METHODS

Participants included non-Latino oncologists (n = 41) and their Latino (n = 67) and non-Latino White (n = 90) patients with advanced cancer who participated in Coping with Cancer III, a multisite, US-based prospective cohort study of Latino/non-Latino disparities in end-of-life cancer care, conducted 2015-2019. Oncologist characteristics included age, sex, race, institution type, Spanish language proficiency, familismo practice style (emphasis on family) and clinical etiquette behaviors. Patient-reported TA was assessed using the average score of six items from The Human Connection scale. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) estimated effects of oncologist characteristics on TA.

RESULTS

Of 157 patients, a majority were female (n = 92, 58.6%) and age younger than 65 years (n = 95, 60.5%). Most oncologists were male (n = 24, 58.5%), non-Latino White (n = 25, 61%), and age 40 years and older (n = 25, 61%). An adjusted HLM in the full sample showed that Latino patient ethnicity was associated with significantly lower TA (β = -.25; P < .001). In an adjusted stratified HLM for TA, among Latino patients, oncologist familismo practice style (β = .19; P = .012), preference using first names (β = .25; P = .023), and greater Spanish fluency (β = .11; P < .001) were positively associated with TA. In contrast, familismo practice style had no impact on TA for non-Latino White patients.

CONCLUSION

Latino patients with advanced cancer had worse TAs with their oncologists versus non-Latino patients. Modifiable oncologist behaviors may be targeted in an intervention designed to improve the patient-physician relationship between oncologists and their Latino patients with advanced cancer.

The moderating role of everyday discrimination on the association between post-traumatic stress and loneliness among older Puerto Ricans

OBJECTIVES

This study examines the relationship between post-traumatic stress and loneliness and whether this relationship varies by perceived everyday discrimination among older Puerto Ricans.

METHODS

A total of 304 Puerto Ricans aged 60 and above from Wave 3 of the Boston Puerto Rican Health Study were included. Ordinary least squares regression examined the association between post-traumatic stress, perceived everyday discrimination, and loneliness.

RESULTS

Post-traumatic stress was significantly associated with a higher level of loneliness (β = 0.282; p < 0.001; 95% CI: 0.142, 0.423). The interaction effect between post-traumatic stress and perceived everyday discrimination on loneliness was statistically significant (β = 0.083; p < 0.05; 95% CI: 0.062, 0.230). More specifically, the positive association between post-traumatic stress and loneliness becomes more robust with the increase in perceived everyday discrimination.

CONCLUSION

Given an increase in population size on the U.S. mainland and migration from Puerto Rico due to natural disasters and declining economic conditions, it is essential to better understand the effect of perceived discrimination against older Puerto Ricans on the mainland United States as well as those who immigrated and stayed through older age. Outreach strategies and interventions that address perceived discrimination can help mitigate loneliness among older Puerto Ricans who experienced trauma.

Do Migration and Acculturation Impact Somatization? A Scoping Review

Somatization is a phenomenon in which the individual experiences physical symptoms attributable to mental projections. It is a widely used term in common parlance to figuratively describe a stressful situation. Syndromes directly related to the mind have been described; pathologies are influenced by somatization. However, the extent of somatization is also related to social and cultural factors. In fact, each culture expresses varying levels of somatization characteristic of the country of origin. A disease can even manifest with different symptoms in different ethnic groups. The migration process arises from the need for change on the part of those who undertake it and culminates in the integration of the person in the host country. This process induces changes in the person of a psychological nature, which also affects somatization. In fact, the most integrated subjects show levels of somatization comparable to those of the host country. These considerations support the thesis that psychological changes are an integral part of health and can affect the development of organic and somatized pathologies.

Grief and Bereavement in the Latino/a Community: A Literature Synthesis and Directions for Future Research

Introduction

Bereavement and grief are social phenomena influenced by a multitude of cultural factors. Prior studies of bereavement adjustment have primarily focused on bereaved survivors who identify racially as white; knowledge of the experience of grief and bereavement among racial/ethnic and other minority groups, particularly among Latino/a groups, in the United States is limited.

Objective

The purpose of this review is to synthesize the literature documenting the bereavement experiences of the Latino/a community, evaluate the strength of the current evidence, and provide recommendations to guide future research.

Method

A narrative review of research on grief and bereavement in the Latino/a community published between 1990 and 2021. Two authors used a thematic, deductive approach to categorize emergent prevalent themes from the literature and used The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) and The Oxford Center for Evidence-Based Medicine-Evidence Quality Rating Scale (OCEBM) approaches to evaluate the strength of the qualitative and quantitative reports reviewed.

Results

Searches revealed 26 reports that were categorized into six themes: cultural values, mourning rituals, immigration, spirituality, disparities related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the effects of COVID-19 on Latino/a communities. Our evaluation concludes that the evidence in this area is weak, with limited methodologically rigorous research examining the influence of culture on bereavement among Latino/a groups.

Conclusion

Research is needed to identify Latino/a groups' mental health, cultural, social, and family needs and how fulfillment of mourning rituals and other cultural factors may promote or impede bereavement adjustment. Investigation into factors that may protect bereaved survivors against adverse mental health outcomes is also needed. A better understanding of Latino/a grief and bereavement is a step toward the development of culturally competent interventions designed to promote the mental health and psychosocial adjustment of Latino/a mourners.

Future Directions on BIPOC Youth Mental Health: The Importance of Cultural Rituals in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Culture plays an important role in the development of mental health, especially during childhood and adolescence. However, less is known about how participation in cultural rituals is related to the wellbeing of youth who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), and part of the Global Majority. This is crucial amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a global event that has disproportionally affected BIPOC youth and disrupted participation in rituals. The goal of this paper is to promote advances in clinical child and adolescent psychology focused on rituals. We begin by defining culture and rituals and examining their role on development. We illustrate these issues with the Lunar New Year in China, Maya rituals in México, Ramadan in Turkey, and Black graduations and Latinx funerals in the United States. We discuss how the pandemic has affected participation in these rituals and their potential impact on BIPOC children and adolescents' mental health. We propose future directions and recommendations for research.

Parental bereavement - impact of death of neonates and children under 12 years on personhood of parents: a systematic scoping review

BACKGROUND

Losing a child tragically impacts the well-being and functioning of parents. With these effects extending beyond emotional, physical morbidity and compromising self-perceptions, appropriate, longitudinal, timely and personalised support is key to effective care of bereaved parents. However, in the absence of a comprehensive understanding of parental bereavement, effective support of bereaved parents remains suboptimal. To address this gap, we scrutinise prevailing data on the effects of a child's death, aged 0-12 years, through the lens of the Ring Theory of Personhood (RToP).

METHODS

To study prevailing accounts of bereaved parents following the death of a child, we adopt Krishna's Systematic Evidence Based Approach (SEBA) to structure our Systematic Scoping Review (SSR in SEBA).

RESULTS

Three thousand seventy-four abstracts were reviewed, 160 full text articles were evaluated, and 111 articles were included and analysed using thematic and content analysis. Four themes/categories were identified relating to the four rings of the RToP. Findings reveal that static concepts of protective and risk factors for grief are misplaced and that the support of healthcare professionals is key to assisting bereaved parents.

CONCLUSION

In the absence of consistent support of bereaved parents, this study highlights the need for effective training of healthcare professionals, beginning with an appreciation that every aspect of an individual parent's personhood is impacted by the loss of their child. Acknowledging grief as a complex, evolving and personalised process subjected to parental characteristics, settings, context and available support, this SSR in SEBA calls attention to effective nurturing of the relationship between parents and healthcare professionals, and suggests use of the RToP to assess and direct personalised, timely, specific support of parents in evolving conditions. We believe the findings of this review also call for further studies to support healthcare professionals as they journey with bereaved parents.

Dying in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic: Contextual considerations and clinical recommendations

Dying is a natural part of life; however, death is often a fearful, frightening event. Dying in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic presents challenges that magnify normative fears and may interfere with a healthy grieving process. To maintain a resilient spirit among those who are at risk of losing a loved one or who have lost a family member to COVID-19, it is important that they be provided with the necessary contextually and culturally appropriate skills and resources to facilitate healing in the face of hardship and uncertainty. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).