Abstract
The International Classification of Diseases has recently defined Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) with symptoms such as longing, worry, and intense emotional pain that exceed sociocultural norms more than 6 months after the loss. This study aims to (a) estimate the prevalence of this new diagnostic category, (b) identify its sociodemographic and loss-related predictors, and (c) assess the co-occurrence of PGD with other psychological disorders and substance abuse. A large representative sample of Spanish adults (N = 1,498) participated. Several multivariate binary logistic regression and multivariate logistic regression models were used. Results showed a 9.95% prevalence in the total sample. Catholic beliefs were a positive predictor, while higher income and more time since loss significantly decreased the odds of PGD. PGD significantly increased the likelihood of anxiety, depression, somatisation, post-traumatic stress disorder, loneliness and substance use. Our study contributes to assessing the multicultural PGD validity, as our results from a large representative sample are comparable to those in other countries with the PGDS. Our findings have direct implications for the assessment and treatment of bereavement, identifying for practitioners variables that make individuals more vulnerable to PGD. Results highlighted the high co-occurrence of PGD with other psychological illnesses and increased drug use.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 86-95 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | International Journal of Psychology |
Volume | 59 |
Issue number | 1 |
Early online date | 12 Oct 2023 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published (in print/issue) - 28 Feb 2024 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We thank Carmelo Vázquez for his help and support in the study. Conception and design: Mark Shevlin and Vanesa Peinado. Data collection: Vanesa Peinado, Carmen Valiente, Alba Contreras, Almudena Trucharte, Mark Shevlin, Sarah Butter, and Jamie Murphy. Analyses and interpretation of data: Mark Shevlin and Vanesa Peinado. Drafting the article: Vanesa Peinado and Mark Shevlin. Revising the article critically for important intellectual content: Carmen Valiente, Alba Contreras, Almudena Trucharte, Sarah Butter and Jamie Murphy. This research was supported in part by a Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness doctoral Fellowship (BES‐2017082015) to Vanesa Peinado and the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (COV20/00737‐CM). The authors declare they have no conflict of interest. All procedures performed followed the ethical standards of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all participants in the study before they completed the surveys.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. International Journal of Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Union of Psychological Science.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. International Journal of Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Union of Psychological Science.
Keywords
- Prolonged grief disorder
- International prolonged grief disorder scale
- Risk factors
- Prevalence
- Comorbidity