Testing a model of prolonged grief in a sample of bereaved spouses

The current study tested the initial model of prolonged grief (PG) as proposed by Prigerson, Shear, Frank, et al., (1997). A modified version of the model was tested and included all but one (i.e., childhood adversity) of the constructs in Prigerson et al.’s original conceptualization. Participants were recruited from online grief support groups, fliers, newsletters, retirement community centers, and on physical bulletin boards at mortuaries and the surrounding community. Participants (N = 234) completed a survey that included questions concerning attachment disturbances (i.e., anxious and avoidant attachment), self-regulatory deficits (i.e., emotional reactivity and neuroticism), level of emotional dependence on the deceased spouse, and prolonged grief. The modified prolonged grief model was tested using structural equation modeling and the model was a poor fit for the data. Although an adjusted version of the model displayed a somewhat better fit, the model remained and overall poor fit. Results suggested that attachment disturbances may not play a direct role in predicting PG with bereaved spouses but may only influence PG through self-regulatory deficits and neuroticism emerged as the variable with the strongest (and positive) association with PG. Clinical implications and limitations are discussed. Suggestions for future research are also provided