(PS7-B46) Grieving the Loss of a Family Member to Incarceration: Perceptions of Who Should Seek Therapy

Introduction

We examined lay perceptions of grief reactions due to losing a loved one to incarceration, a form of non-death loss. We hypothesized 1) a family member’s grief response (i.e., resilient; prolonged) would affect lay recommendations that the person should seek therapy, 2) women would be more likely to recommend therapy than men, and 3) participants would recommend therapy to Black family members more than to White or Latine family members given Black men are 7.07 times more likely than White men and 2.40 times more likely than Latino men to be incarcerated in the U.S. Lay recommendations might affect actual therapy seeking behaviors.

Method

University students (N = 1,165; M_age = 18.79, SD_age = 2.82; 75.45% women; 59.57% White) read a randomly assigned vignette describing a family member who lost a loved one to incarceration. The family member was described as Black, White, or Latine and displaying a prolonged or resilient grief reaction. Participants responded to a binary item indicating whether the family member should seek therapy. A multiple logistic regression tested our hypotheses.

Results


Each predictor variable (i.e., race, grief reaction, participant sex) contributed significantly to the model when predicting therapy recommendation. Race was significant (X²(2, N = 1165) = 6.5, p = 0.04) such that the odds of recommending therapy to Black family members were 37% lower than to White family members (OR = .63, CI [-.90, -.04]). Recommendations did not differ for White versus Latine family members. Grief reaction was significant (X²(1, N = 1165) = 122.2, p < .001) such that the odds of recommending therapy to family members experiencing prolonged grief were 1,784% greater than resilient family members (OR = 18.84, CI [2.44, 3.49]). Participant sex was significant (X²(1, N = 1165) = 14.0, p < .001) such that the odds of women participants recommending therapy were 107% greater than men (OR = 2.07, CI [.35, 1.11]). Descriptive analyses revealed that overall, 60% of participants indicated the resilient person should seek therapy (vs. 96% for the prolonged grief reaction).

 

Conclusions

In line with our hypothesis, participants were more likely to recommend therapy to family members displaying prolonged (vs. resilient) grief, and women were more likely to recommend therapy than men. Contrary to predictions, participants were less likely to recommend therapy to Black family members compared to White or Latine family members. Participants in prior research reported that Black (vs. White) persons were less sensitive to physical pain, an unfounded racial bias that might extend to perceptions of psychological distress and thus the need for grief therapy. Participants might also overestimate the need for therapy among White and Latine persons. Sixty percent of participants recommended therapy for resilient family members across levels of race despite the person demonstrating typical grief functioning. Because grief therapy demonstrates efficacy specifically for persons experiencing prolonged grief responses, those who display resilience should not be compelled to seek unnecessary help. Further, resilient persons who seek therapy could experience iatrogenic effects.