Locked-in your heart-shaped box: Familial-role and attachment orientation as predictors of grief in prolonged disorders of consciousness vs. death.

Death or prolonged disorders of consciousness (DOC) of a loved one are both considered relational-losses that severely disrupt attachment-bonds. Grief in both conditions was compared by exploring the impact of familial-role and attachment-orientation. In DOC, caregivers' grief was found significantly intensified relative to Death.

Partially dead, partially separated: establishing the mechanism between ambiguous loss and grief reaction among caregivers of patients with prolonged disorders of consciousness.

Objectives:: To trace the psychological mechanism underlying caregivers' emotional experience in prolonged disorders of consciousness, by examining the mediating role of boundary ambiguity in the relationship between ambiguous loss and grief.

Design:: Cross-sectional design.

Setting:: The Respiratory Rehabilitation Division of a long-term medical and rehabilitation institute.