Relationship between Prolonged Grief Experience Resulting from Death of a Loved One and Reintegration to Life: Social Support and Spirituality as Moderators

Grieving at the loss of some dear one is a natural and universal phenomenon yet it is a deeply personal experience and varies from person to person in intensity and duration. Healing from grief enables the bereaved individuals to adapt to the loss, process their emotions and move forward to new life realities. In the process of healing from grief, roles of social support and spirituality are crucial. The present study examined the relationship between prolonged grief following the death of a loved one and reintegration into normal life, while addressing the moderating roles of perceived social support and spirituality. A purposive sample of 213 bereaved individuals, males and females, completed the four measures consisting of (a) Traumatic Grief Inventory Self Report Plus, (b) Reintegration into Normal Living Index, (c) Interpersonal Support Evaluation List, and (d) Spiritual Transcendence Index. Results revealed a significant negative association between grief experiences following the death of a dear one and reintegration into normal life, supporting our expectations. Perceived social support and spirituality did not significantly moderate in the relationship between grief and reintegration into normal life. However, both had significant positive effect on reintegration into normal life revealing the importance of these two variables in healing from grief. These results highlight importance of social support and spirituality as coping mechanisms to mitigate prolonged grief and promote post-loss adjustment.