Living with uncertainty after an earthquake: Ambiguous grief among relatives and significant others of missing persons

The disappearance of a loved one after a natural disaster can create ambiguous loss, in which physical absence coexists with uncertainty about whether the missing person is alive or dead. This study explored ambiguous grief among 16 adults whose loved ones remained officially missing after the 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes in Türkiye, with no recovered remains or formal confirmation of death. Semi-structured interviews were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Five themes were developed: suspended grief within continuing uncertainty; psychological burden and traumatic effects; disruption of rituals and cultural rupture; changes in social relationships and disenfranchized grief; and coping, faith, and hope. Continuing uncertainty was intertwined with expectations of return, trauma-related distress, disrupted mourning practices, social withdrawal, faith, hope, and everyday life. Adaptation did not entail acceptance or closure. The findings provide a contextually grounded elaboration of ambiguous-loss processes and highlight the clinical importance of tolerating uncertainty.