Grief, Family Hardiness and Family Resource for Management after Bereavement of Family Member

Chon, Mi Young

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify the level of grief experience, family hardiness and family resource for management after bereavement of a family member. The subjects of this study were 100 family members who had lost a family member from cancer within the past two years. The data was analyzed using the SPSS program for descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Duncan test, and Pearson correlation. The results were as follows. 1. The mean score for the level of grief was 2.84 +/- 0.66. The mean score for the a family hardiness was 3.08 +/- 0.39. The mean score for the level of family resource management was 2.70 +/- 0.35. 2. The level of grief experience differed according to respondent's age was F=2.95, p=.02, and type of bereavement was t=2.01, p=.04. 3. The level of family hardiness was not significantly different according to respondent's and familial characteristics. 4. The level of family resource management differed according to monthly income of the family (F=3.98, p=.01). 5. There were negative correlations between grief experience and family hardiness (r= -.551, p<.001), grief experience and family resource for management (r=-.351, p<.001). Family hardiness was positively related with family resource for management (r=.709, p<.001). In conclusion, family hardiness and family resource management were identified as important variables that contributed to reduce the grief experience. Therefore, it is important to develop nursing intervention that enhances family hardiness and family resource for management for bereaved family.