Unfinished business, continuing bonds and bereaved college students' grief: a three-wave longitudinal study

Background: Bereavement is one of the major stressors for college students and triggers grief.Objective: Based on the integrative risk factor framework for the prediction of bereavement outcome, this study used a three-wave longitudinal design with 3-month intervals to explore the relationships between unfinished business and grief among bereaved college students and the role of continuing bonds (CBs), including internalized continuing bonds (ICBs) and externalized continuing bonds (ECBs).Method: Bereaved college students who lost a loved one within the past 3 years participated in the longitudinal study (T1-T3), completing the Basic Information Questionnaire, Unfinished Business in Bereavement Scale, Continuing Bonds Scale, and Prolonged Grief Disorder-Revised Scale. Valid responses were obtained from 538 participants at T1 (100.0%), 363 at T2 (67.5%), and 320 at T3 (59.5%). The final valid sample comprised 320 participants (M_age = 21.64 years, 56.56% female) who completed all three waves.Results: Unfinished business consistently and positively predicted grief over time. Furthermore, T1 unfinished business positively predicted T2 ICBs, while T1 ICBs negatively predicted T2 grief. In contrast, T1 ECBs positively predicted T2 grief. However, the mediating roles of T2 ICBs and T2 ECBs in the relationship between T1 unfinished business and T3 grief were not significant.Conclusion: Unfinished business played a critical role in college students' bereavement adjustment. Besides, in grief counselling for bereaved college students struggling with unfinished business, it may be particularly important to focus on fostering ICBs with the deceased, helping them gradually reintegrate into daily life more effectively.