Introduction:

Grief is a complex response to the loss of a loved one with different ways of adjustment, and Continuing Bonds are part of its nature.

Objective:

To analyze men's and women's experiences of grief in terms of perception of closeness to the deceased, Continuing Bonds, and Nursing diagnoses.

Materials and Methods:

Secondary analysis. A convenience sample of 251 Spanish-speaking adult mourners, residents of the Canary Islands, was used. Data was collected via an online survey consisting of socio-demographic, health, and loss-related characteristics, the Inclusion of Other in the Self scale, the Continuing Bonds Scale, and Nursing diagnoses. Descriptive analysis, Mann-Whitney U test, and Spearman's coefficient were used. Level of significance p<0.05.

Results:

The mean age was 45.09 years ±10.38 years; 22.70% (57) were male, and 77.30% (194) were female. Significant differences were found between men and women in the perception of closeness to the deceased (p<0.05), and significant relationships were found between the perception of closeness to the deceased, Continuing Bonds, and Nursing diagnoses (p=0.001).

Discussion:

A comparison of the results with other studies shows some consistencies and differences in the behavior of the variables, demonstrating the dynamism of the phenomenon.

Conclusions:

For this group of participants, the experience of grief would not be linked to social constructions of gender but instead respond to a coping response according to their needs. Understanding the grieving process allows Mental Health Nursing to implement interventions based on the Nursing Process.

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