The role of faith in the experience of grief among sexually diverse individuals: a systematic review

Abstract

This Prisma-compliant review summarises the intersections of faith, grief, and sexes, or sexualities. Following the protocol, the authors searched 11 electronic databases and three publisher collections. The search was limited to empirical research published in English between 1980 and July 2020 that explored the impact of faith, religion, or spirituality on the grief experiences of sexually diverse individuals. After reviewing abstracts and full texts, from a total of 5,670 papers, five met the selection criteria and were systematically reviewed and quality assessed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme. Thematic analysis found that rituals and rites of passage were seen to assist the sexually diverse bereaved in maintaining valuable connections with the deceased, accepting the finality of the loss, accessing social support, and making meaning through bereavement. Prominent in the reviewed literature were the strategies of spiritual coping, primarily by facilitated personal and spiritual growth, beliefs in spiritual transcendence, and spiritual resources. Of particular note, was that all the studies were conducted in the ‘90s and did not include transgender or nonbinary participants leading to significant gaps in our understanding. Further research is needed to investigate the current interplay between faith and grief across gender identity and sexuality spectrums.