Assessment and Predictors of Grief Reactions among Bereaved Chinese Adults.

BACKGROUND: The Texas Revised Inventory of Grief-Present Scale (TRIG-Present) is a widely used tool to measure grief. Most existing research related to the assessment and characteristics of grief has been conducted sampling bereaved Western subjects and, as such, limited information is available on the experience of grief in Chinese samples.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to validate the Chinese version of the TRIG-Present (TRIG-Present-C) and explore the predictors of grief among bereaved adults in China.

METHODS: Responses from 460 bereaved Chinese adults were collected through an online survey. Subjects completed a specially developed questionnaire covering demographic data/loss-related variables, the TRIG-Present-C, and Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D-9).

RESULTS: Confirmatory factor analysis validates the original one-factor structure. The overall content validity index is equal to 1.0. Significant correlations were observed, with CES-D-9 and factor subscales (r ranged from -0.228 to 0.607, p < 0.05) indicating the convergent validity. The TRIG-Present-C scores distinguished grieving individuals from those experiencing unanticipated death and those where death was anticipated. The internal consistency is satisfactory (Cronbach's α = 0.957). In multiple regression analyses, with grief severity as the dependent variable, 28.6% of the variance was explained by religious belief, the immediacy of the loss, the loss of a first-degree relative, and where the deceased was relatively young.

CONCLUSIONS: The TRIG-Present-C scale is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing grief reaction among bereaved Chinese adults. Religious belief, loss of a first-degree relative, where the deceased was relatively young, and the immediacy of loss were associated with higher levels of grief.