TY - JOUR
T1 - Reciprocal Associations Among Symptom Levels of Disturbed Grief, Posttraumatic Stress, and Depression Following Traumatic Loss: A Four-Wave Cross-Lagged Study
AU - Lenferink, Lonneke I.M.
AU - Nickerson, Angela
AU - de Keijser, Jos
AU - Smid, Geert E.
AU - Boelen, Paul A.
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - Disturbed grief, operationalized as persistent complex bereavement disorder (PCBD), correlates with yet differs from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression symptoms. However, knowledge about temporal associations among these symptoms is limited. We aimed to enhance our understanding of the etiology of loss-related distress by examining temporal associations among PCBD, PTSD, and depression symptom levels. Dutch people (N = 172) who lost significant other(s) in a plane disaster completed questionnaires for PCBD, PTSD, and depression 11, 22, 31, and 42 months after the disaster. Cross-lagged analyses revealed that changes in PCBD symptom levels have a greater impact on changes in symptom levels of PTSD and depression than vice versa. Our findings contradict the notion that PTSD and depression symptoms should be addressed before grief in treatment. Pending replication of our findings in clinical samples, we tentatively conclude that screening and treatment of grief symptoms has potential value in preventing long-lasting distress.
AB - Disturbed grief, operationalized as persistent complex bereavement disorder (PCBD), correlates with yet differs from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression symptoms. However, knowledge about temporal associations among these symptoms is limited. We aimed to enhance our understanding of the etiology of loss-related distress by examining temporal associations among PCBD, PTSD, and depression symptom levels. Dutch people (N = 172) who lost significant other(s) in a plane disaster completed questionnaires for PCBD, PTSD, and depression 11, 22, 31, and 42 months after the disaster. Cross-lagged analyses revealed that changes in PCBD symptom levels have a greater impact on changes in symptom levels of PTSD and depression than vice versa. Our findings contradict the notion that PTSD and depression symptoms should be addressed before grief in treatment. Pending replication of our findings in clinical samples, we tentatively conclude that screening and treatment of grief symptoms has potential value in preventing long-lasting distress.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85075158737&partnerID=MN8TOARS
U2 - 10.1177/2167702619858288
DO - 10.1177/2167702619858288
M3 - Article
SN - 2167-7026
VL - 7
SP - 1330
EP - 1339
JO - Clinical Psychological Science
JF - Clinical Psychological Science
IS - 6
ER -