Covid-Bereavement in Tertiary students: Predicting loneliness and Prolonged Grief reaction.

Abstract

During the Covid-19 pandemic, students faced psychological stress and loneliness. While the mortality rate during the pandemic was high, little is known about bereavement in the tertiary student population and its consequences for complicated grief reactions. A total of 155 students of various nationalities were included in the study and were asked to complete measures of psychological stress, loneliness, complicated grief reactions, and bereavement-related questions. The study examined psychological stress and loneliness in bereaved students and found no significant differences in stress between bereaved and non-bereaved groups. A significant difference in loneliness was found between bereaved and non-bereaved students (t(131) = 40,6, p < .01). Furthermore, a linear regression analysis was conducted to predict complicated grief reactions from loneliness, and no significant results were yielded, nor was this relationship moderated by gender. Future studies shall investigate the relationship between loneliness and complicated grief reactions.