Grief and delivering a statement in court: a longitudinal mixed-method study among homicidally bereaved people

Background: Participating in a criminal trial may increase the likelihood of developing psychopathology. In 2021, people bereaved by a plane disaster (flight MH17) had the opportunity to deliver a victim personal statement (VPS) in Dutch court.Objective: This longitudinal mixed-method study examined different aspects of 84 bereaved people's experiences with VPS delivery.Method: Motivations to deliver, or not deliver, an oral VPS were examined qualitatively using thematic content analysis. Whether background and loss-related variables were related to the decision to deliver a VPS was examined using binary logistic regression analyses. Between-group (delivered VPS vs. did not) and within-group (pre- vs. post-VPS) comparisons were made regarding prolonged grief disorder (PGD), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and depression levels using t-tests and paired t-tests.Results: Bereaved people were most frequently motivated to deliver an oral VPS to describe the impact of the incident, while those who did not deliver an oral VPS commonly wanted to protect themselves from the perceived emotional burden. None of the correlates - i.e. biological sex, age, level of education, number of losses, and (closest) relationship to the deceased - were related to the decision to deliver a VPS. Lastly, significantly higher PGD, PTSD, and depression levels were reported by people who delivered a VPS than those who did not, before and after the court hearing. No significant within-group differences were found over time.Conclusions: Professionals may provide emotional support to bereaved people who want to deliver a VPS and manage their expectations if they want to deliver a VPS for the purpose of symptom reduction. Future research may benefit from examining other ways in which VPS delivery might have beneficial or detrimental effects for specific individuals. Overall, implementing VPS delivery in court on the basis of emotional restoration remains empirically unsupported, if defined as a reduction in psychopathological levels. We are the first to examine if statement delivery changes grief-related distress.Statement delivery did not significantly change grief-related distress.Defining emotional restoration as a decrease in psychopathology remains unsupported. Antecedentes: El participar en un juicio penal puede aumentar la probabilidad de desarrollo de psicopatologia. En el 2021, las personas en duelo por un accidente aereo (vuelo MH17) tuvieron la oportunidad de presentar una declaracion personal de victima (VPS por sus siglas en ingles) ante un tribunal holandes.Objetivo: Este estudio longitudinal de metodos mixtos examino los diferentes aspectos de la experiencia de 84 personas en duelo con la entrega de VPS.Metodo: Las motivaciones para realizar o no una VPS oral se examinaron cualitativamente usando analisis de contenido tematico. Se examino mediante analisis de regresion logistica binaria si las variables de antecedentes y relacionadas con las perdidas estaban relacionadas con la decision de realizar una VPS. Se realizaron comparaciones entre grupos (los que entregaron VPS vs los que no) e intragrupo (antes vs despues de VPS) con respecto al trastorno por duelo prolongado (PGD por sus siglas en ingles), trastorno de estres postraumatico (TEPT) y niveles de depresion utilizando pruebas de t y pruebas de t pareadas.Resultados: Las personas en duelo se sintieron con mayor frecuencia motivadas a realizar una VPS oral para describir el impacto del incidente, mientras que aquellos que no realizaron una VPS oral comunmente querian protegerse de la carga emocional percibida. Ninguno de los correlatos por ej., sexo biologico, edad, nivel educacional, numeros de perdidas y relacion (mas cercana) con el fallecido estuvieron relacionadas con la decision de entregar una VPS. Por ultimo, las personas que realizaron una VPS reportaron mayores niveles de PGD, TEPT y depresion que aquellas que no lo hicieron, antes y despues de la audiencia judicial. No se encontraron diferencias significativas dentro del grupo a lo largo del tiempo.Conclusiones: Los profesionales pueden brindar apoyo emocional a las personas en duelo que quieran realizar una VPS y manejar sus expectativas si desean realizar una VPS con el fin de reducir sus sintomas. Investigaciones futuras podrian beneficiarse al examinar otras formas en las que la entrega de VPS pudiera tener efectos beneficiosos o perjudiciales para individuos especificos. En general, la implementacion de VPS en los tribunales sobre la base de la restauracion emocional sigue sin tener respaldo empirico, si se define como una reduccion en los niveles psicopatologicos.