Cited by 276Grief, Bereavement, and Mental HealthDeath, Funerary Practices, and MourningPsychotherapy Techniques and Applications

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 57 of the 57 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Treatment of Complicated Grief in Elderly Persons: A Randomized Clinical Trial

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Abstract

IMPORTANCE: Complicated grief (CG) is a debilitating condition, most prevalent in elderly persons. However, to our knowledge, no full-scale randomized clinical trial has studied CG in this population. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether complicated grief treatment (CGT) produces greater improvement in CG and depressive symptoms than grief-focused interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT). DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Randomized clinical trial enrolling 151 individuals 50 years or older (mean [SD] age, 66.1 [8.9] years) scoring at least 30 on the Inventory of Complicated Grief (ICG). Participants were recruited from the New York metropolitan area from August 20, 2008, through January 7, 2013, and randomized to receive CGT or IPT. The main outcome was assessed at 20 weeks after baseline, with interim measures collected at 8, 12, and 16 weeks after baseline. INTERVENTIONS: Sixteen sessions of CGT (n = 74) or IPT (n = 77) delivered approximately weekly. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Rate of treatment response, defined as a rating from an independent evaluator of much or very much improved on the Improvement subscale of the Clinical Global Impression Scale. RESULTS: Both treatments produced improvement in CG symptoms. Response rate for CGT (52 individuals [70.5%]) was more than twice that for IPT (24 [32.0%]) (relative risk, 2.20 [95% CI, 1.51-3.22]; P < .001), with the number needed to treat at 2.56. Secondary analyses of CG severity and CG symptom and impairment questionnaire measures confirmed that CGT conferred a significantly greater change in illness severity (22 individuals [35.2%] in the CGT group vs 41 [64.1%] in the IPT group were still at least moderately ill [P = .001]), rate of CG symptom reduction (1.05 ICG points per week for CGT vs 0.75 points per week for IPT [t633 = 3.85; P < .001]), and the rate of improvement in CG impairment (0.63 work and Social Adjustment Scale points per week with CGT and 0.39 points per week with IPT [t503 = 2.87; P = .004]). Results were not moderated by participant age. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Complicated grief treatment produced clinically and statistically significantly greater response rates for CG symptoms than a proven efficacious treatment for depression (IPT). Results strongly support the need for physicians and other health care providers to distinguish CG from depression. Given the growing elderly population, the high prevalence of bereavement in aging individuals, and the marked physical and psychological impact of CG, clinicians need to know how to treat CG in older adults. TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01244295.

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  1. [22]Rosengren DB Building Motivational Interviewing Skills: A Practicioner Workbook New York, NY Guilford Press 2009

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Metadata

Authors
Shear, M. K., Wang, Y., Skritskaya, N., Duan, N., Mauro, C., & Ghesquiere, A.
Affiliations
  • Columbia University (US)
  • City University of New York (US)
Venue
JAMA Psychiatry
Published
2014-11-01
Volume
71
Issue
11
Pages
1287
ISSN
2168-622X (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2100507918
Cited by
276
References
56
Citations by year
2026: 18 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 32 · 2023: 28 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 28 · 2019: 26 · 2018: 22 · 2017: 27 · 2016: 22 · 2015: 15
FWCI
25.17
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • JAMA Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH070741)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health
  • Social Sciences › Anthropology › Death, Funerary Practices, and Mourning
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
Keywords
complicated grief, older adults, bereavement, depressive symptoms, treatment response, grief severity, psychotherapy comparison, Inventory of Complicated Grief, work and social adjustment, number needed to treat
MeSH terms
Affective Symptoms, Aged, Aging, Depression, Female, Grief, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Psychotherapy, Treatment Outcome

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