1 Department of Clinical Psychology and Experimental Psychopathology, Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands.
2 Department of Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Trauma Violence Abuse. 2019 Jul;20(3):287-302. doi: 10.1177/1524838017699602. Epub 2017 Mar 21.
The disappearance of a loved one is claimed to be the most stressful type of loss. The present review explores the empirical evidence relating to this claim. Specifically, it summarizes studies exploring the prevalence and correlates of psychological symptoms in relatives of missing persons as well as studies comparing levels of psychopathology in relatives of the disappeared and the deceased.
Two independent reviewers performed a systematic search in PsychINFO, Web of Science, and Medline, which resulted in 15 studies meeting predefined inclusion criteria. Eligible studies included quantitative peer-reviewed articles and dissertations that assessed psychopathology in relatives of missing person.
All reviewed studies were focused on disappearances due to war or state terrorism. Prevalence rates of psychopathology were mainly described in terms of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression and varied considerably among the studies. Number of experienced traumatic events and kinship to the missing person were identified as correlates of psychopathology. Comparative studies showed that psychopathology levels did not differ between relatives of missing and deceased persons.
The small number of studies and the heterogeneity of the studies limit the understanding of psychopathology in those left behind. More knowledge about psychopathology postdisappearance could be gained by expanding the focus of research beyond disappearances due to war or state terrorism.
有人声称，失去亲人是最具压力的一种丧失。本综述探讨了与这一说法相关的实证证据。具体来说，它总结了探索失踪者亲属的心理症状的普遍性和相关性的研究，以及比较失踪者亲属和死者亲属的精神病理学水平的研究。
两名独立的审查员在 PsychINFO、Web of Science 和 Medline 中进行了系统搜索，结果有 15 项符合预定义纳入标准的研究。合格的研究包括评估失踪者亲属精神病理学的定量同行评审文章和论文。
所有综述研究均集中在因战争或国家恐怖主义而失踪的情况。精神病理学的患病率主要以创伤后应激障碍和抑郁来描述，在研究之间差异很大。经历的创伤事件的数量和与失踪者的亲属关系被确定为精神病理学的相关因素。比较性研究表明，失踪者亲属和死者亲属的精神病理学水平没有差异。
研究数量少，研究的异质性限制了对遗留者精神病理学的理解。通过将研究重点扩大到不限于战争或国家恐怖主义导致的失踪事件，可以更多地了解失踪后的精神病理学。
