The Witnessing of Disenfranchised Grief: Reliability and Validity

Abstract

Background and Purpose: To examine the psychometric properties of a newly designed instrument: Witnessing of Disenfranchised Grief (WDG). Methods: The 22-item questionnaire was administered to a community-based sample of convenience (N= 201). Each subject reported having experienced a loss by death or miscarriage. There was no stipulation regarding the timing of the loss. Results: The tool was found to be one dimensional with factor loadings of 0.40–0.78, inter-item correlation ranging fromp< .01 top< .05, and a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.91. A loss that was viewed as witnessed resulted in decreased manifestation of some grief symptoms. Conclusions: The WDG is a measure of the degree to which one who grieves perceives their loss to be witnessed.