The effect of group social work intervention on youth's grief severity, reinterpretation of grief and hopelessness

This study aims to examine the effects of group social work intervention applied to university students who lost someone important to them on the severity of grief, the level of reconstructing meaning of grief, and the level of hopelessness. For this purpose, a mixed method was used in the study, where quantitative and qualitative research methods were used together. The universe of the study consisted of undergraduate university students who applied to receive psychosocial support due to loss and grief. 7 participants were included in the experimental group of the study and 10 participants were included in the control group. The quantitative data of the study were obtained using the Core Bereavement Items Scale, Mourning and Reconstructing Meaning Inventory, and Beck Hopelessness Scale. The qualitative data were obtained from the 8-week grief support intervention group sessions created by the researcher. The quantitative data sets obtained were evaluated with the SPSS 26.0 package program. Qualitative data analysis was analyzed using the MAXQDA 2020 program. As a result of the quantitative findings of the study, it was observed that the Core Bereavement Items Scale scores, Grief and Meaning Reconstruction Inventory, and Beck Hopelessness Scale scores of university students in the mourning process in the experimental group of the social work intervention with groups differed statistically significantly from the scores of the students in the control group, and this difference was in favor of the participants in the experimental group. It has been scientifically demonstrated that group social work intervention is functional in alleviating grief-related symptoms. In the light of the qualitative findings of the study, it was concluded that the life processes after loss are an important area to intervene for individuals who have experienced loss; the age of the deceased and the relationships with the deceased are among the factors affecting the grief process; social support, religious beliefs, and personal strengths are important coping tools; having individual goals and taking responsibility are effective in re-meaning grief; and group work has gains such as providing social support and awareness. In line with these results, recommendations are included for university students in the grief process and the psychosocial support services to be offered to these students, mental health workers providing psychosocial support, and policy makers.