Behavioral interactions and emotional engagement with loss-related objects in bereavement: associations with grief symptom severity

BACKGROUND: Grief involves attachment- related regulatory processes through which individuals adapt to separation from the deceased. Loss-related objects (i.e., emotionally significant belongings of the deceased) may reflect may reflect externalized expressions of proximity-seeking, yet their association with grief symptoms remains understudied. AIMS: This study examines the role of loss-related objects in the grieving process by investigating their associations with attachment styles, difficulties in emotion regulation, and grief symptom severity. METHOD: The sample consisted of 250 adults who had experienced the death of a loved one. Participants completed the Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised Short Form, the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale-Brief Form, loss object related items, and the Prolonged Grief Scale-13 (PG-13). RESULTS: Findings revealed that 83.2% of participants kept a loss-related object. Those who kept objects exhibited higher grief symptom scores (t = 3.36, p = .001) and impulse control difficulties (t = 2.07, p = .009), whereas non-keepers showed higher avoidant attachment (t = -2.02, p = .043). PG-13 scores was associated with shorter time since loss (β = -.16), higher avoidant attachment (β = .13), greater difficulties in emotion regulation strategies (β = .44), and object-related interactions, including visiting frequency (β = .14), smelling the object (β = .21), and pain experienced during interactions with the object (β = .27). CONCLUSIONS: Loss-related objects may function as externalized representations within the grief process. Engagement with these objects was associated with grief severity beyond attachment and emotion regulation, suggesting that assessing such interactions may help identify risk and inform intervention targets.