Persistent complex bereavement disorder in caregivers of terminally ill patients undergoing supportive-expressive treatment: a pilot study

Background: The proposal of persistent complex bereavement disorder (PCBD) in the DSM-V increased the interest on the impact of grief on the psychological health. Aims: Investigating the time course of psychological symptoms, emotional and social abilities in caregivers (undergoing or not to support...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of mental health (Abingdon, England) England), 2017-04, Vol.26 (2), p.111-118
Main Authors: Lai, Carlo, Luciani, Massimiliano, Galli, Federico, Morelli, Emanuela, Moriconi, Federica, Penco, Italo, Aceto, Paola, Lombardo, Luigi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
alexithymia
Anxiety
Anxiety Disorders - complications
Anxiety Disorders - psychology
Attachment
Attitude to Death
Bereavement
Caregivers
Caregivers - psychology
depression
Depressive Disorder - complications
Depressive Disorder - psychology
Female
Grief
grief psychotherapy
Humans
Male
Mental depression
Middle Aged
persistent complex bereavement disorder
Pilot Projects
Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
Terminally Ill - psychology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Background: The proposal of persistent complex bereavement disorder (PCBD) in the DSM-V increased the interest on the impact of grief on the psychological health. Aims: Investigating the time course of psychological symptoms, emotional and social abilities in caregivers (undergoing or not to supportive-expressive treatment) of terminally ill cancer patients from 1 months before loss to 14 months after it. Method: Thirty-three of 60 caregivers were assessed by PG-12, HAM-A, HAM-D, TAS-20 and ASQ, at the admission in Hospice, and after 3, 10 and 14 months from the loss. Twelve caregivers adhered to follow a supportive-expressive treatment and 21 caregivers did not. Results: PG-12, anxiety, and depression scores decreased in both groups over time. The score of difficulty in identifying emotions and confidence with closeness decreased significantly only in the treated-group. PG-12 score at T0 was able to predict the DSM V diagnosis of PCBD at T3. Conclusions: Findings showed a decrease of the anxiety, depression, security in the attachment style and an increase of the ability to identify emotions during the first year after loss in caregivers of terminally ill cancer patients. Pre-loss assessment of prolonged grief risk seems useful to predict the diagnosis of PCBD 1 year after loss.
ISSN:0963-8237
1360-0567
DOI:10.3109/09638237.2016.1167855