How Loved Ones Express Grief After the Death of a Child by Sharing Photographs on Facebook

How social media data are being used to research the experience of mourning: A scoping review

Background

Increasingly, people are using social media (SM) to express grief, and researchers are using this data to investigate the phenomenon of mourning. As this research progresses, it is important to understand how studies are being conducted and how authors are approaching ethical challenges related to SM data.

Objective

The aim of this review was to explore how SM data are being used to research experiences of mourning through the following questions: a) ‘Which topics related to mourning are being studied?’; b) ‘What study designs have been used to analyse SM data’; c) ‘What type of data (natural or generated) have been used?’; and d) ‘How are ethical decisions being considered?’.

Methods

The JBI Scoping Review methodology guided this review. Eligibility criteria were determined using the PCC framework, and relevant key words and phrases derived from these criteria were used to search eight databases in September 2021 (CINAHL, Embase, LILACS, OpenGrey, ProQuest, PsycINFO, PubMed and Scopus). The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines were used to report the results of this review.

Results

Database searches resulted in 3418 records, of which, 89 met eligibility criteria. Four categories of grief and mourning were identified. Most records were qualitative in nature and used natural data. Only 20% of records reported ethics approval by an Institutional Review Board, with several including measures to protect participants, for example, using pseudonyms.

Conclusions

This unique review mapped the diverse range of mourning-related topics that have been investigated using SM data and highlighted the variability in approaches to data analysis. Ethical concerns relating to SM data collection are identified and discussed. This is an emerging and rapidly changing field of research that offers new opportunities and challenges for exploring the phenomenon of mourning.

Grief Iconography between Italians and Americans: A Comparative Study on How Mourning Is Visually Expressed on Social Media

As an innovative way to express grief, social media posts about the deceased have become fairly common. However, few studies have examined commonly posted grief photos. The purpose of the present study was to examine such pictures, as well as the motivations and reactions of those who posted them, among Italians and Americans. Surveys were sent to both Italian and US participants. The US group yielded 262 responses (mean age = 22 years; 81% female), and the Italian group yielded 51 (mean age = 32 years; 82% female). Several key issues emerged, such as the need for social media users to receive empathic support from other users, the desire to maintain continuing bonds, the wish to remember the deceased, and the desire to share beauty and symbolic pictures. The images were analyzed using content analysis. Both samples posted photos to remember, and to enhance their posts. A strong preference for pictures with a positive emotional connotation appeared, depicting the deceased in a conjoint appearance with the participant. The results suggest that the imagery used for the expression of grief in social media sites, an “iconography of grief”, is a popular means of expression for grievers across the two cultures.

How does spirituality manifest in family caregivers of terminally ill cancer patients? A qualitative secondary analysis

OBJECTIVE

Considering the risk of spiritual distress among terminally ill patients, experts long agree that spiritual care has to be an integral component of palliative care. Despite this consensus, the role of spirituality among family caregivers remains largely unexplored. We aimed to describe how spirituality manifests in the lived experience of family caregivers (FCs) in a palliative care context.

METHOD

As part of a secondary analysis, data derived from two qualitative primary studies on FCs' burdens and needs in the context of caring for a patient with a diagnosis of incurable cancer. Previously transcribed interviews were examined by means of a thematic analysis, transcending the focus of the primary studies to examine how spirituality arises and/or persists in the life of FCs from the time of diagnosis of incurable cancer up until bereavement.

RESULTS

Twenty-nine narratives were explored and all included spirituality as a relevant theme. Analysis revealed four aspects associated with the presence of spirituality among FCs' experiences: "Connectedness," "Religious Faith," "Transcendence," "Hope," and a fifth overarching aspect which we named "Ongoing integration of spiritual experience." Spirituality appeared as a multilayered phenomenon and was shaped individually among FCs' narratives.

SIGNIFICANCE OF RESULTS

In view of the results, exploring and discussing spirituality and underlying experiences in the situation as an FC seems likely to widen the perspective on FCs' problems and needs. Further research on spiritual needs among FCs of patients with incurable life-limiting cancer is deemed necessary.

The COVID-19 Disappeared: From Traumatic to Ambiguous Loss and the Role of the Internet for the Bereaved in Italy

In Italy, in the very first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic there was a dramatic rise in mortality. However, families were forbidden because of lockdown regulations to be with their loved ones at their deathbeds or to hold funerals. This qualitative study examined bereavement experiences among family members, how they processed their grief, and how they used social networks in particular by uploading photographs during the working-through of bereavement. The sample was composed of 40 individuals aged 23-63 (80% women) from different Italian cities severely impacted by the virus, including a subgroup from the province of Bergamo, which was the city with the highest mortality rate during that time. All interviews were conducted by phone, Skype, or Zoom. Then, the transcriptions underwent a thematic analysis using Atlas.ti. The main themes that emerged were: abandonment anger and guilt, dehumanized disappeared, derealization and constant rumination, and social support and the importance of sharing photos on Facebook. Importantly, the use of social networks proved to be a valuable source of support and photographs were a powerful tool in facilitating the process of mourning by encouraging narration and sharing. Grief had a complex profile: on the one hand, it was traumatic and characterized by all the risk factors causing mourners to experience prolonged grief, but on the other, some features were similar to ambiguous loss (that occurs without closure and clear understanding) because of the impossibility to be with their relatives in their final moments. The possible relationships between ambiguous loss, the use of internet, and the risk of prolonged grief are discussed.