From vulnerability to resilience: where should research priorities lie?

Recent decades have seen a shift in the focus of bereavement research from the mental and physical health consequences of bereavement to the exploration of the protective qualities that help people cope with loss. In this paper Margaret Stroebe reviews the literature produced by both camps and concludes that the pendulum may have swung too far. The literature indicates that the vast majority of bereaved people are, indeed, resilient and will cope without intervention. But policy-makers and health and social care practitioners need also to know that bereavement is associated with excess risk of early death and physical and psychological health problems. Psycho-social intervention should focus on such 'at-risk’ groups.