Studies // Cited work

Prolonged grief disorder: Psychometric validation of criteria proposed for DSM-V and ICD-11

Prigerson, H. G., Horowitz, M. J., Jacobs, S. C., Parkes, C. M., Aslan, M., Goodkin, K., Raphael, B., Marwit, S. J., Wortman, C., Neimeyer, R. A., Bonanno, G., Block, S. D., Kissane, D., Boelen, P., Maercker, A., Litz, B. T., Johnson, J. G., First, M. B., & Maciejewski, P. K. (2009). Prolonged grief disorder: Psychometric validation of criteria proposed for DSM-V and ICD-11.

Level C Longitudinal study doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000121

What this study supports

Supports the claim that proposed criteria for prolonged grief disorder centre on yearning plus further symptoms persisting at least six months after the death with functional impairment. Prolonged grief disorder has since entered ICD-11; the 2009 paper is cited for the logic of the boundary, not for current thresholds.

Who was studied
291 bereaved respondents interviewed three times between 0 and 24 months after the loss.
Design
Longitudinal study
Level of evidence
Longitudinal and repeated-measures studies without random assignment.

Claims that rest on it

Each claim states what the site asserts, at what strength, and with what caveat.

Clinical boundaryLevel CConfidence MODERATE

A minority of bereaved adults develop prolonged grief disorder, characterised by intense yearning and other symptoms persisting for months after a death with functional impairment (at least six months in the 2009 proposal and in ICD-11; at least 12 months for adults in DSM-5-TR); a meta-analysis of non-violent bereavement estimated a pooled prevalence of 9.8%. The criteria describe a clinical boundary for professionals, not a self-test.

Scope
Adults after bereavement; prevalence from studies of non-violent deaths.
Caveat
The 2009 criteria preceded the ICD-11 and DSM-5-TR definitions, which differ in the required duration; the prevalence studies were heterogeneous and of limited representativeness. Assessment requires a qualified professional.

Last reviewed · Review due · prolonged-grief-clinical-boundary