Investigation of grief intensity levels of university students in terms of personality traits attachment styles and continuing bonds

This study aimed to examine the grief intensity levels of university students in terms of personality traits, attachment styles and continuing bonds. A predictive correlational design was used in the research. The study group of the research consists of 351 university students who studied at various universities in Turkey in 2023-2024 and lost a loved one due to death. The data collection tools of the study, in which participants were selected through snowball sampling, were the Texas Revised Mourning Scale, the Adjective-Based Personality Test, the Attachment Styles in Interpersonal Relationships Scale, the Continuing Bonds Scale and the Personal Information Form prepared by the researcher. The analysis of the data was performed using the SPSS 26 package program. Cronbach's alpha coefficients were calculated to test the reliability of the scales used in the research. In order to examine the relationships between the variables, Pearson product of moments correlation coefficient, Independent Sample T-Test to determine whether the intensity of grief differs according to the sudden or expected death and the manner of death, ANOVA analysis to determine whether the difference in these means is significant, multiple linear regression analysis to predict grief intensity of personality traits, attachment styles and continuing bonds were applied. As a result of the research, significant relationships were found between grief intensity, personality traits, attachment styles and continuing bonds. At the same time; it was concluded that personality traits, attachment styles and continuing bonds explained 43.4% of the variance in grief intensity.