The experience of grief is both uniquely personal and universal. Our personality, our relationship with the deceased, the manner in which the deceased died, our life stage, and many other contextual factors matter and impact grief, and yet there are many experiences, phases, stages of grief that are universal. Those who are grieving deeply or who are farther along in their healing are often try...

OBJECTIVES This article reports on results from a randomized experimental trial of the effects of the Family Bereavement Program (FBP) on multiple measures of grief experienced by parentally bereaved children and adolescents over a 6-year period. METHOD Participants were 244 youths (ages 8-16, mean age = 11.4 years) from 156 families that had experienced the death of a parent. The sample cons...

CONTEXT The relationship between anxiety and preparatory grief is complex and poorly understood. OBJECTIVES To investigate the relationship between anxiety, post-traumatic stress symptoms, and preparatory grief in a sample of patients with advanced cancer. METHODS Ninety-four patients with advanced cancer completed the Greek version of the Impact of Events Scale-Revised (IES-R-Gr), the Anxi...

While complicated grief has been addressed in part through some recommendations for modifications in the upcoming fifth version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), there remain reasons for substantial concern about its scope therein and within clinical practice. The authors issue a call to the field, reiterating that complicated grief is complicated and cannot ...

The Digital Remains: Social Media and Practices of Online Grief The Digital Remains: Social Media and Practices of Online Grief With an increasing number of social activities taking place online, an emotionally fraught and culturally complex question has surfaced regarding what happens to someone’s online content and identity after death. Social media sites are increasingly sophisticated in the...

BACKGROUND Adaption to the loss of a loved one due to suicide can be complicated by feelings of guilt, shame, responsibility, rejection, and stigmatization. Therefore people bereaved by suicide have an increased risk for developing complicated grief which is related to negative physical and mental disorders and an increased risk for suicidal behavior. Grief interventions are needed for this vul...

BACKGROUND A minority (9%-20%) of bereaved individuals experience symptoms of persistent intense grief associated with significant distress and impairment. This recently identified distinct post-loss syndrome has been variously named complicated grief, prolonged grief disorder, traumatic grief and persistent complex bereavement disorder. The Inventory of Complicated Grief (ICG) is a self-report...

OBJECTIVE Identification of the risk factors and psychological correlates of prolonged grief disorder is vital for health promotions in relatives of persons who died of cancer. The aim of this research was to investigate the role of defense mechanisms, character dimension of personality and demographic factors on complicated grief following a loss of a family member to cancer. METHOD A number...

Could sympathetic hyperarousal limit treatment success in complicated grief? The present study investigated persons with complicated grief, a chronic condition with distinct symptoms including persistent intense yearning and longing for the person who died, avoidance of reminders that the person is gone, deep relentless sadness, self-blame, bitterness, or anger in connection with the death, and...