Depression, Anxiety and Post-traumatic Growth Among Bereaved Adults: A Latent Class Analysis

BACKGROUND: The death of a loved one can trigger a range of responses, including painful thoughts and emotions, as well as positive changes, such as post-traumatic growth (PTG). To understand more about the relationship between these outcomes this study explored the co-occurrence of depression, anxiety and PTG among a group of bereaved Chinese adults. METHODS: Data were collected from 194 participants, who had lost a first-degree relative. Latent class analysis was used to analyze the data to identify subgroups of participants with shared symptom profiles. RESULTS: Three classes were identified: a Growth class, a Depression/Anxiety/Growth class and a Depression/Anxiety class. Marital status, social support, close relationship with the deceased and witnessing the suffering of the deceased were identified as differential predictors of class membership. CONCLUSION: The findings contribute to our understanding of the potentially wide ranging impacts of bereavement and highlight the important role of stressor characteristics and support and in influencing impairment and positive outcomes.