A influência da religiosidade/espiritualidade no processo do luto gestacional e infantil

Abstract

The death of a child before or shortly after birth interrupts dreams, hopes, and expectations, and the lack of acknowledgement of grief leaves grieving families suffering in isolation and silence. Social support is considered key to coping with loss, in addition, spiritual coping strategies can help parents deal with the death of their children. The objective of this study was to verify the impact of spirituality/religiosity on coping with gestational and infant bereavement in women participating in support groups. This was an observational, sectional, quantitative study that included 71 women who participated in online support groups for perinatal grief through Google Meet, WhatsApp, E-mail, and Instagram. A sociodemographic, clinical and religious characterization questionnaire, the Duke University Religiosity Index (P DUREL), the Spiritual-Religious Coping Scale (CER-Breve - 14) and the Perinatal Grief Scale (ELP) were applied. The simultaneous influence of all variables was analyzed using multiple linear regression. The sample consisted of 71 women, with 52 having gestational loss and 19 having infant loss. Most were white (59.2%), belonged to families with income equal to or higher than 3 minimum wages (62%), and (63.4%) had lost their child more than two years before. Regression analysis showed that black/black women had higher despair scores, and time since loss significantly influenced levels of active distress, coping difficulty, and despair. Those who experienced the loss within the last two years had higher scores. Support at the time of loss was associated with lower levels of despair. Organizational religiosity was related to lower levels of grief, coping difficulty, and hopelessness, while intrinsic religiosity and negative use of religion to cope were associated with higher levels of these grief symptoms. We conclude that the relationship between religiosity and mourning is complex. The individual experience of religion can bring both comfort and suffering, depending on how it is interpreted and practiced. It is important to recognize the diversity of religious experiences and to respect the different ways of dealing with grief.