Search

Objective(s): Yearning, a hallmark of grief disorders, relates to rumination and potentially to cognitive avoidance. We developed an 8‐item short form of the only existing validated yearning measure, the Yearning in Situations of Loss Scale (YSL), to improve its validity and administration ease. Method: Cross‐sectional surveys were conducted among bereaved Dutch (N = 313) and German (N = 235) community samples and an American treatment‐seeking sample (N = 95). All samples completed the YSL, and community samples additionally measures of rumination, loss‐related avoidance, complicated grief (CG), and depression. Results: A one‐factor model provided a good fit to the YSL Short Form (YSL‐SF) in the community samples. A two‐factor structure (cognitive and emotional yearning)best fitted the YSL‐SF in the treatment‐seeking sample. YSL‐SF scores correlated positively with rumination, loss‐related avoidance, and with CG symptoms whilst controlling for rumination and loss‐related avoidance. Conclusion: The YSL‐SF appears an easy‐to‐administer and valid measure of yearning after bereavement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prolonged grief disorder (PGD) is included as a new mental health disorder in the 11th edition of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11). Understandably, this has boosted research efforts to investigate this newcomer to psychopathology. However, the use of different diagnostic algorithms has resulted in substantially different prevalence rates both within and across cultural groups. Furthermore, global applicability of the new criteria outside of the Global North has not been yet been established. This perspective presents key findings from Asian research groups and discusses the roadblocks to unified PGD research, including the heterogeneric use of diagnostic algorithms and the lack of cultural compatibility of ICD-11 items. The authors discuss the key issues and address implications for practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Prolonged grief disorder (PGD) is included in the ICD-11 (11th edition of the International Classification of Diseases). The new PGD criteria reflect the requirements and recommendations of the World Health Organization for improved clinical utility and international applicability. Even though the ICD classification system is globally used, no research has investigated how healthcare professionals (HP) in non-Western countries may adopt this change for their own practice. Objective: The present study explored the extent to which the new PGD criteria were accepted and perceived to meet the standards for clinical utility and international applicability among Chinese and German-speaking HP. Methods: Individual semistructured interviews were conducted in person, by phone, or online (e.g., via Skype), with 24 Chinese (n = 10) and German-speaking (n = 14) HP working with bereaved populations in China and Switzerland, and analyzed using a qualitative framework analysis. Questions included "what items are currently missing from the PGD criteria?". Results: Across all HP, the majority supported the inclusion of PGD and were generally aligned with the current criteria. HP found that the criteria distinguished between normal and abnormal grief and considered the criteria easy to use if their modifications were considered. Merits included, among others, improved clinical decision making, research promotion, and social acknowledgment. Main concerns included misdiagnosis, pathologization, and a lack of specificity of criteria. The importance of international applicability was emphasized across Chinese and German-speaking HP. Different grief-specific symptoms were identified by German-speaking and Chinese HP. Conclusions: These findings provide evidence for the clinical utility and international applicability of ICD-11 PGD criteria among German-speaking and Chinese HP, as well as cultural similarities and differences in the barriers to implementation of these criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prolonged grief disorder (PGD) is a newcomer to psychopathology and the new ICD-11 diagnostic criteria are conceptualized with an eye towards global applicability. Yet, previous network studies have not used official ICD-11 criteria nor tested whether network structures generalize across cultural groups even though much current research relies on ICD-11 PGD criteria. To overcome these limitations, the present study used data from 539 German-speaking (n = 214) and Chinese (n = 325) bereaved individuals to investigate similarities and differences in network structures of ICD-11 PGD criteria. In addition, network structures were investigated for an expanded supplementary questionnaire of culturally-bound grief symptoms hypothesized to be of relevance in each cultural context. Results suggested both similarities and differences in network structures between the two samples. Across cultural groups, intense feelings of sorrow and inability to experience joy or satisfaction since the death emerged as most central symptoms. Compared to the standard PGD network, the expanded network showed a better average predictability for Chinese participants, but no improvement for the German-speaking context. Unhealthy behavior change was the most central symptom for Chinese bereaved when additional grief symptoms were included. Results of the present study suggest there are culturally-bound symptoms of grief which are not included in the current ICD-11 PGD criteria. These findings provide areas of special clinical attention concerning screening and treatment and present a first step towards a more cultural-sensitive understanding of grief. NCT03568955 • Similarities and differences in ICD-11 PGD networks between German-speaking and Chinese bereaved. • Most central symptoms across cultural groups were intense feelings of sorrow and inability to experience joy or satisfaction. • There are culturally-bound symptoms of grief which are not included in the current ICD-11 PGD criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Prolonged grief disorder (PGD) is a new mental health disorder included in the WHO ICD-11 however, the operationalization of the guidelines still needs to be empirically validated, particularly in different cultural contexts. Here we provide a preliminary validation study of the new International Prolonged Grief Disorder Scale (IPGDS) that serves to be the first self-report questionnaire directly based on the ICD-11 PGD and contains culturally adapted items.Methods: In addition to core symptom items new culturally specific items were developed in two phases. Phase 1: key informant interviews with 10 German-speaking and 14 Chinese experts in grief and mental health, followed by a focus group with four bereaved German-speaking participants. Phase 2: 214 German-speaking and 325 Chinese bereaved participants completed self-report questionnaires.Results: Phase 1 resulted in 19 potential culturally relevant items (e.g. feeling stuck in grief). Phase 2 exploratory factor analysis confirmed the one-dimensional nature of the IPGDS, additionally the 32-item scale revealed two factors (core grief and culturally specific symptoms). Psychometric analysis revealed strong internal consistency, concurrent validity and criterion validity.Limitations: The German-speaking and Chinese samples significantly differed in terms of several demographic variables including age, gender and type of loss.Conclusions: This preliminary validity study confirms that the IPGDS is a valid and reliable measure of the new ICD-11 PGD guidelines. This is the first scale of disordered grief to contain both core items and culturally specific supplementary items and aims to improve the clinical utility of the ICD-11 narrative approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Over one third of Chinese shidu parents suffered from prolonged grief disorder according to the ICD-11 guidelines. • The prevalence of prolonged grief disorder of the ICD-11 guidelines was almost twice as that of Prigerson et al. (2009) criteria. • Younger age, being female, living in a rural area, low monthly income, shorter time since loss and comorbid chronic physical diseases correlated with severer grief symptoms. In China, parents who have lost their only child and remained childless are labelled Shidu (失独) parents. Previous research suggests high levels of psychological distress in this population, yet little is known regarding the prevalence of prolonged grief disorder (PGD) based on the new ICD-11 formulation. The present study examined prevalence rates and associated factors of prolonged grief disorder in this population. 1030 Chinese Shidu parents (381 male, 643 female) who were recruited through convenient sampling completed questionnaires assessing grief severity. Multiple linear regression models were used to examine socio-demographic, loss-related and self-reported number of chronic physical conditions associated with PGD symptoms. Results showed prevalence rate was 35.5% based on the ICD-11 PGD criteria, which was almost twice as that of Prigerson et al. (2009) criteria. Younger age of parents, being a mother, living in a rural place, lower monthly income per capital, shorter time since loss and more comorbid chronic physical conditions were related to severer PGD symptoms. The present findings revealed high rates of PGD experienced by Chinese Shidu parents and identified key risk factors which can be used for future prevention or intervention designs in this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]