The development and initial psychometric evaluation of the Centrality of Loss Scale (CLS) in a national sample of bereaved adults from Poland

James Cunningham; Mark Shevlin; Eoin McElroy; Enya Redican; Yafit Levin; Philip Hyland; Thanos Karatzias; Agata Błachnio; Aneta Przepiorka; Milena Chmielik; Menachem Ben-Ezra

doi:10.1080/07481187.2026.2690128

The development and initial psychometric evaluation of the Centrality of Loss Scale (CLS) in a national sample of bereaved adults from Poland

James Cunningham
, Mark Shevlin
, Eoin McElroy
, Enya Redican
, Yafit Levin
, Philip Hyland
, Thanos Karatzias
, Agata Błachnio
, Aneta Przepiorka
, Milena Chmielik
, Menachem Ben-Ezra

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

Centrality of loss reflects the extent to which the death of a loved one becomes a central reference point, shaping thoughts, emotions, identity, and daily activity. We developed the Centrality of Loss Scale (CLS) and tested its psychometric properties and incremental association with grief severity beyond bereavement context. A national sample of bereaved Polish adults (N = 886; 51.0% female) completed the CLS alongside measures of prolonged grief, general distress, and bereavement context. Analyses supported a refined 7-item unidimensional solution with high internal consistency. CLS scores correlated moderately with prolonged grief (PGD) and modestly with general distress. Factor analyses further supported the distinctiveness of CLS from PGD and depression. The CLS explained substantial incremental variance in grief severity beyond bereavement context variables (ΔR² = .38; context ΔR² = .10). The CLS indexes how loss becomes integrated into identity and daily life as a construct related to, but distinct from, PGD.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1-14
Number of pages	14
Journal	Death Studies
Early online date	19 Jun 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2026.2690128
Publication status	Published online - 19 Jun 2026

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2026 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Rights Retention Statement

This Author Accepted Manuscript has been made open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY 4.0) under the terms of Ulster University Rights Retention Policy for Scholarly Works. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Supplementary materials, including the full survey instrument and Centrality of Loss Scale (CLS) documentation, are available on the Open Science Framework (OSF).

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

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Keywords

Centrality of Loss
bereavement
prolonged grief disorder
grief
psychometrics
factor analysis
scale development

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Cite this

Cunningham, J., Shevlin, M., McElroy, E., Redican, E., Levin, Y., Hyland, P., Karatzias, T., Błachnio, A., Przepiorka, A., Chmielik, M., & Ben-Ezra, M. (2026). The development and initial psychometric evaluation of the Centrality of Loss Scale (CLS) in a national sample of bereaved adults from Poland. Death Studies, 1-14. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2026.2690128

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abstract = "Centrality of loss reflects the extent to which the death of a loved one becomes a central reference point, shaping thoughts, emotions, identity, and daily activity. We developed the Centrality of Loss Scale (CLS) and tested its psychometric properties and incremental association with grief severity beyond bereavement context. A national sample of bereaved Polish adults (N = 886; 51.0\% female) completed the CLS alongside measures of prolonged grief, general distress, and bereavement context. Analyses supported a refined 7-item unidimensional solution with high internal consistency. CLS scores correlated moderately with prolonged grief (PGD) and modestly with general distress. Factor analyses further supported the distinctiveness of CLS from PGD and depression. The CLS explained substantial incremental variance in grief severity beyond bereavement context variables (ΔR² = .38; context ΔR² = .10). The CLS indexes how loss becomes integrated into identity and daily life as a construct related to, but distinct from, PGD.",

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The development and initial psychometric evaluation of the Centrality of Loss Scale (CLS) in a national sample of bereaved adults from Poland

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Rights Retention Statement

Data Availability Statement

Funding

Keywords

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