Prescription Medication Use in Bereavement: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Feasibility Study
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Abstract
Although many individuals experience a normal grieving process following the death of a loved one, some bereaved individuals will engage in prescription medication use to seek respites from their grief. More concerningly, the most commonly prescribed psychotropic medications given to the recently bereaved are often associated with higher rates of misuse (e.g., benzodiazepines) (Schmitz, 2016). Yet, extant literature has failed to find any significant impact of these medications on alleviating symptoms related to bereavement (Bui et al., 2012; Warner et al., 2001). The purpose of the present study was to examine the feasibility and acceptability of conducting real-time data collection on grief reactions and prescription medication use through an ecological momentary assessment (EMA) and to examine grief-related antecedents, such as separation/traumatic distress, driving prescription medication use, as well as craving intensity/frequency for medication. Twenty participants completed three brief assessments per day for 14 consecutive days. The EMA paradigm was deemed feasible within this population with participants completing 85.8% of the 42 assessments. Similarly, participants reported overall positive experiences completing the study with reports they would participate in similar future studies. Prescription medication use was neither associated with separation or traumatic distress. However, significant associations were found between separation and traumatic distress for craving intensity, while traumatic distress appeared to be the only driving factor for craving frequency. These findings suggest that grief reactions may cue cravings for prescription drugs among recently bereaved persons who seek these drugs during acute bereavement. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
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Review of the literature -- Research methods -- Results -- Discussion
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Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy)