The Man I Once Knew: Grief and Inflammation in Female Partners of Veterans With Traumatic Brain Injury. (January 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Saban, Karen L.; Mathews, Herbert L.; Collins, Eileen G.; Hogan, Nancy S.; Tell, Dina; Bryant, Fred B.; Pape, Theresa Louise Bender; Griffin, Joan M.; Janusek, Linda Witek
• Is Part Of: Biological research for nursing. Volume 18:Number 1(2016:Jan.)
• Page Start: 50
• Page End: 59
• Publication Date: 2016-01
• Subjects: grief -- blame -- caregivers -- cytokines -- brain injury -- TNF-α -- anger; Clinical biochemistry -- Periodicals; Physiology, Pathological -- Periodicals; Nursing -- Periodicals; Nursing -- Research -- Periodicals; 610.73
• DOI: 10.1177/1099800414568661
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1099-8004

Abstract

Grief, although traditionally conceptualized as a bereavement-related reaction, is also experienced by significant others in response to the profound cognitive and personality changes associated with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a loved one. Grief associated with the death of a loved one is related to increases in proinflammatory cytokines, yet it is not clear whether this is the case for grief experienced by individuals caring for a significant other with TBI. The purpose of this cross-sectional, exploratory study was to examine grief and its association with a proinflammatory cytokine, tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), in wives/partners caring for veterans with TBI. Participants completed written measures of grief, perceived stress, and depressive symptoms and provided morning saliva samples for TNF-α analysis. Participants reported levels of grief comparable to those reported in studies evaluating individuals grieving the death of a loved one. Path analysis revealed that grief was not associated with TNF-α; however, participants reporting high levels of blame/anger, a subscale of the grief scale, had higher levels of TNF-α. In addition, both grief and blame/anger were related to increased perceived stress and depressive symptoms; however, path analysis demonstrated that perceived stress and depressive symptoms did not mediate the influence of blame/anger on TNF-α. These findings suggest that blame/anger associated with grief may be related to the elevations in TNF-α exhibited by individuals caring for a loved one with TBI.