University of Twente Student Theses
Acceptability and feasibility of an ESM-study examining grief in daily life of bereaved people
Die, Tom van (2022) Acceptability and feasibility of an ESM-study examining grief in daily life of bereaved people.
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| Abstract: | Introduction: While research on a Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) is increasing, less is known about the day-to-day grief experiences of people who have PGD. This study converted items of the Traumatic Grief Inventory Self-Report Plus (TGI-SR+) to make them suitable for Experience Sampling Method (ESM) -research. This conversion was done with the help of experts on ESM and/or PGD. Thereafter, this study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of conducting daily measurements of grief reactions in bereaved people. Feasibility was evaluated by examining compliance- and retention rates. Acceptability was evaluated by comparing the results on reformulated items from the Reactions to Research Participation Questionnaire (RRPQ), with the results of a similar study. Method: Experts were asked to assist in the conversion of items of the TGI-SR+ to make them suitable for ESM-research. This was done with a Three-Step Test-Interview (TSTI). These converted items were then implemented in a smartphone-assisted ESM study over a two-week period with 5 measurements a day. Eighty bereaved people from the Netherlands or Germany joined the study and were interviewed before and after the ESM-period to examine possible effects of the study. The interviews consisted of questionnaires such as the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) and the last interview also included reformulated items of RRPQ. The median and range of the TSTI was calculated to evaluate the suitability of converted items. Compliance and retention rates were examined by calculating the percentage of completed surveys. Results of the adapted items from the RRPQ were compared with the results from a similar ESM-study by conducting an independent sample t-test. Results: The converted items were deemed suitable for ESM implementation based on expert reviews. Compliance- and retention rates were relatively low compared with other ESM studies. There were no significant associations found regarding characteristics (e.g. gender, age) and participants who were either considered as dropouts or completers. Bereaved people in this study indicated less personal benefits and emotional reactions regarding the ESMperiod, compared with a similar study. These findings were not significant. Discussion: The converted ESM items might be used in future ESM-research. However, we did not examine the fluctuation of the PGD symptoms. This should be subject of future research. Feasibility might be increased by implementation of aspects such as higher incentives and less measurements per day. Moreover, a heterogeneous sample consisting of people with and without PGD, might prove beneficial for research purposes and increase the compliance- and retention rates. Finally, this study showed that ESM studies on grief are in all probability acceptable regarding personal benefits and emotional reactions. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 77 psychology |
| Programme: | Psychology MSc (66604) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/92794 |
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