Bereavement, Memorial Attendance, and Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Longitudinal Results from the Nurses' Health Study

Abstract

Background: Mortality increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many bereaved individuals were not able to gather to memorialize their loved ones, yet it is unknown if this contributed to worsening mental health.

Objective: Examine the association of bereavement in the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic with subsequent psychological distress and the role of memorial attendance in reducing psychological distress among the bereaved.

Design, settings, subjects: In May 2020, 39,564 older females from the Nurses' Health Study II enrolled in a longitudinal COVID-19 substudy (mean_age = 65.2 years, SD = 4.5).

Methods: Linear regression analyses estimated associations of bereavement reported between March and October, 2020 with subsequent psychological distress between January and October 2021, adjusting for sociodemographic and prepandemic depression symptoms. Secondary models examined associations between memorial attendance and psychological distress.

Results: Bereavement during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with higher psychological distress (adjusted β = 0.21, 95% CI: 0.15, 0.26) assessed over the next year. Among the bereaved, memorial attendance was associated with lower psychological distress (in-person: adjusted β = -0.41, 95% CI: -0.53, -0.29; online: adjusted β = -0.24, 95% CI: -0.46, --0.02).

Conclusion: Attending memorials was associated with lower subsequent psychological distress among bereaved older females.

Keywords: Bereavement; Nurses Health Study; anxiety; depression; memorials.