Homesickness in social context:An ecological momentary assessment study among 1st-year university students

Homesickness is common among university students and associated with mental health problems. Most previous studies assessed homesickness as a summary of the past weeks. However, there may be significant fluctuations across situations. At the current residence, homesickness may especially be triggered during (phone) interactions with attachment figures. Dutch and international 1st-year students (n = 92) completed the Utrecht Homesickness Scale and subsequently used a smartphone application to record social interactions for 14 days (ecological momentary assessment [EMA]). For each interaction they reported the social context (e.g. location, contact type) and their affective state, including homesickness. Homesickness in the past weeks and momentary homesickness were both higher in international students than in Dutch students. Feeling homesick was highest at participants' current residency, when interacting with parents, or when using video-chat. When participants felt more homesick, they reported less pleasant and more unpleasant affect. In conclusion, EMA provided insight in cross-situational variations in homesickness

Cremation and Grief:Are Ways of Commemorating the Dead Related to Adjustment Over Time?

Funeral services are known to serve multiple functions for bereaved persons. There is also a common, intuitively reasonable assumption of positive associations between engaging in funeral activities and adjustment to bereavement. We examined whether restricting ceremonial cremation arrangements to a minimum has a negative association with grief over time. Bereaved persons in the United Kingdom completed questionnaires 2 to 5 months postloss and again a year later (N = 233 with complete data; dropout = 11.4%). Neither type nor elaborateness of the cremation service, nor satisfaction with arrangements (typically high), emerged as significantly related to grief; no major subgroup differences (e.g., according to income level) were found. Results suggested that it does not matter to grief whether a more minimalistic or elaborate funeral ceremony was observed. We concluded that the funeral industry represented in this investigation is offering bereaved people the range of choices regarding cremation arrangements to meet their needs. Limits to generalizability are discussed

A survey of Dutch GPs’ attitudes towards help seeking and follow-up care for relatives bereaved by suicide

Background. Relatives who are bereaved by suicide likely consult their GP when they feel the need for professional help. GPs may play a key role in establishing who is at risk for adverse consequences of the loss as they are familiar with relatives’ possible psychiatric vulnerabilities. The availability of evidence-based services for relatives of suicide victims is limited. Successful implementation of services needs analysis of key factors considered critical in the achievement of changes. We investigated GPs’ management of help requests of relatives bereaved by suicide and examined determinants of GPs willingness to refer for evidence-based follow-up care

Assessing survival in widowers, and controls -A nationwide, six- to nine-year follow-up

To access full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink "View/open" at the bottom of this pageThe aim of this study was to assess if widowers had an increased mortality rate during the first 6 to 9 years after the death of their wife, compared initially to an age-matched control group and also compared to the general population of Iceland. The study base was comprised of all 371 men born in 1924-1969 who were widowed in Iceland in 1999-2001 and 357 controls, married men, who were matched by age and residence.The widowers and controls were followed through the years 2002-2007 using information from Statistics Iceland. Mortality rates were compared between the groups and also with the general population. The mortality rate comparisons were: study group vs. control group, on the one hand, and study group vs. general population on the other. Causes of death were also compared between widowers and their wives. A statistically significant increase in mortality in the widowers' group, compared to controls, was observed.Lifestyle-related factors could not be excluded as contributing to cause of death in these cases. Being a widower was related to an increased risk of death for at least 9 years after the death of their wife.Landspitali - National University Hospital in Reykjavik Iceland, Rannis, the Icelandic Centre for Research (provides assistance to Icelandic science & technology, Reykjavik, Iceland), Utfararstofa Islands (a funeral home, Reykjavik, Iceland), Swedish Cancer Society (Cancerfonden), Styrktarsjodur Lifsins samtaka um liknarmedferd (Palliative Care Association, Iceland), Utfarastofa Kirkjugardanna (a funeral home, Reykjavik, Iceland

‘My Memories of the Time We Had Together Are More Important’: Direct Cremation and the Privatisation of UK Funerals

Funerals have long been of interest to social scientists. Previous sociological work has examined the relationship between individuality, belief and tradition within funeral services, founded on the assumption that public rituals have psycho-social benefit for organisers and attendees. With the introduction of direct cremation to the UK, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on funeral service attendance in 2020 and 2021, critique of this assumption is now needed. Drawing on interviews with recently bereaved people who organised a direct cremation in late 2017, this article illustrates how compromise, control and consistency are key drivers for not having a funeral service. The article argues that a declining importance in the fate of the body and a move towards ‘invite-only’ commemorative events represents a waning need for social support offered by a public, communal funeral service. In turn, this indicates a sequestration, or privatisation, of the contemporary funeral

The Alleged Crisis and the Illusion of Exact Replication

There has been increasing criticism of the way psychologists conduct and analyze studies. These critiques as well as failures to replicate several high-profile studies have been used as justification to proclaim a "replication crisis" in psychology. Psychologists are encouraged to conduct more "exact" replications of published studies to assess the reproducibility of psychological research. This article argues that the alleged "crisis of replicability" is primarily due to an epistemological misunderstanding that emphasizes the phenomenon instead of its underlying mechanisms. As a consequence, a replicated phenomenon may not serve as a rigorous test of a theoretical hypothesis because identical operationalizations of variables in studies conducted at different times and with different subject populations might test different theoretical constructs. Therefore, we propose that for meaningful replications, attempts at reinstating the original circumstances are not sufficient. Instead, replicators must ascertain that conditions are realized that reflect the theoretical variable(s) manipulated (and/or measured) in the original study

Erasmus Language students in a British University – a case study

Students’ assessment of their academic experience is actively sought by Higher Education institutions, as evidenced in the National Student Survey introduced in 2005. Erasmus students, despite their growing numbers, tend to be excluded from these satisfaction surveys, even though they, too, are primary customers of a University. This study aims to present results from bespoke questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with a sample of Erasmus students studying languages in a British University. These methods allow us insight into the experience of these students and their assessment as a primary customer, with a focus on language learning and teaching, university facilities and student support. It investigates to what extent these factors influence their levels of satisfaction and what costs of adaptation if any, they encounter. Although excellent levels of satisfaction were found, some costs affect their experience. They relate to difficulties in adapting to a learning methodology based on a low number of hours and independent learning and to a guidance and support system seen as too stifling. The results portray this cohort’s British University as a well-equipped and well-meaning but ultimately overbearing institution, which may indicate that minimising costs can eliminate some sources of dissatisfaction

Couple’s Relationship After the Death of a Child: a Systematic Review

When a child dies, the parents must address the changes in their relationship as well as the way that these changes affect their individual adjustment. These two perspectives are addressed in this systematic review. Five databases were systematically searched for papers published in English between January 2000 and February 2014. Of the 646 publications, 24 papers met the inclusion criteria. The results suggest that a child’s death can cause cohesive as well as detrimental effects on a couple’s relationship. Variables that may produce differential outcomes for the marital relationship include situational factors, such as the cause and type of death and the child’s age at the time of death; dyad-level factors, such as surviving children, the pre-death characteristics of the relationship, communication and incongruent grieving; and individuallevel factors, such as the family of origin’s processing of trauma, social support, religious affiliation and finding meaning. Aspects such as marital quality and the couple’s interdependence were found to influence each parent’s individual adjustment. Larger, prospective, ethically conducted studies should be implemented to consolidate these findings. Mental health professionals may benefit from a deeper understanding of the risk and protective factors regarding marital adjustment after a child’s death