Evaluation of Grief Therapy Approaches for Bereaved Parents

Change in Prolonged Grief Disorder-13-R (PG-13-R) scores

The Prolonged Grief-13-Revised (PG-13-R) is a 13-item self-report scale evaluating the proposed symptoms of prolonged grief disorder. The PG-13-R assesses the severity of 10 grief-related symptoms using a 5-point Likert-type scale. Additional items evaluate the experience of a significant loss, symptom duration, and functional impairment. The PG-13-R yields a score between 10 and 50, where a higher score indicates that a person experiences higher levels of prolonged grief.

Change in Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale - Revised (CESD-R) score

The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale-Revised (CESD-R) is a 20-item self-report measure assessing the frequency of depressive symptoms in the past week on a 4-point scale. Total scores range from 0 to 60, with scores above 16 indicating possible clinically significant depression levels.

Change in PROMIS: Global Health Scale (PROMIS-GH) scores

The PROMIS-Global Health Scale (PROMIS-GH), is a National Institutes of Health-developed and well-validated self-report assessment that captures global mental health (i.e., quality of life, mental health, satisfaction with social activities, and emotional problems) and physical health (i.e., physical health, physical function, pain, and fatigue). PROMIS-GH consists of 10-items, with each utilizing a 7-day recall period. The initial 9-items make use of a 5-point scale, with 3 separate verbal anchors that ask patients to rate their health or abilities, indicate how often they are experiencing a phenomenon or how severe their symptomatic experience is. A final item asks patients to indicate their average pain on a 0-10 numeric rating scale (i.e., 0 = no pain, 10 = worst pain imaginable). The composite score is a sum of each item, and scores range from 10 to 50.

Change in State-Trait Anxiety Inventory - Short Form (STAI-SF) scores

The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-SF) is a 10-item valid and reliable self-report measure of both state and trait anxiety. For both of these subscales, higher scores indicate higher levels of anxiety. Responses range from 1 (almost never) to 4 (almost always), with higher scores reflecting increased anxiety.

Change in Beck Hopelessness Scale - Short Form (BHS-SF) scores

The Beck Hopelessness Scale-Short Form (BHS-SF) is a 4-item true-false self-report measure of participants' degree of pessimism and hopelessness. Scores range from 0 to 12. A higher score indicates more experiences of pessimism or lack of hope.

Change in Presence of Regret Scale scores

The presence of regret and associated distress will be assessed by items used in the investigative team's prior research on regret. The measure asks respondents to rate level of distress associated with regret on a scale from 1-10 with higher scores indicating greater distress.