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Cardiovascular Effects of Grieving
Investigating Cardiovascular Reactivity and Recovery of Young Adults During Grief-Recall, With Self-Affirmation as Potential Intervention
Who can join
Ages 18 and older · All sexes · Healthy volunteers welcome
Full eligibility criteria
Inclusion Criteria: * Individuals aged 18 and older who have experienced the death of family member and/or friend within the last 2 to 18 months. * Participants must also be fluent in English as all procedures will be conducted in English. Exclusion Criteria: \- Individuals with a history of cardiovascular disease or disorders, those who report being pregnant, or are taking medication which may alter/affect cardiovascular and/or cognitive processes.
About the study
Self-affirmation (SA) theory proposes that people are motivated to maintain a positive self-image of being worthy, stable, and capable. Self-affirmation (SA) manipulations have been shown to effectively increase self-worth as well as reduce cardiovascular reactivity while enhancing cardiovascular recovery in response to stress. While SA is discussed as a way to alleviate grief, its effect on cardiovascular reactivity (CVR) and recovery to grief recall has yet to be studied within laboratory settings. This study proposes an experimental design to examine how an in-lab manipulation promoting self-affirmation can improve patients' cardiovascular responses during and after a grief recall procedure. The investigators hypothesized that grief severity (a continuous variable) interacts with condition (a categorical variable with two levels, i.e., SA intervention vs. control) to predict CV reactivity and recovery as outcomes.
Primary Objective 1: To investigate effects of self-affirmation intervention on cardiovascular responses among grieving participants during and after grief recall.
Secondary Objective 1: To investigate the relationship of grief severity with psychological stress.
What is being tested
- Value-affirmation (behavioral)
Sponsor: University of South Florida · Participants: 140 · Started: Oct 16, 2025
Contact the study team
- Kaiyuan Luo, BS, BA · Phone: 412-708-9227
Official record on ClinicalTrials.gov — NCT07356635
Locations in the U.S.
| Florida | University of South Florida, Psychology and Communication Sciences and Disorders Lab Building, Tampa |
From ClinicalTrials.gov, data retrieved Oct 1, 2026. Each study sets its own eligibility; the study team decides who can join.