Social support as a predictor of response to group therapy for complicated grief

This study investigated the effect of perceived social support on the outcome of group therapy for patients who experienced complicated grief following a variety of death losses. One hundred and seven psychiatric outpatients, who received either interpretive or supportive group therapy, rated their perceptions of social support from three sources (family, friends, and a special person) prior to treatment onset. For patients in both forms of therapy, perceived social support from friends was directly associated with favorable treatment outcome. In contrast, perceived social support from family was inversely related to outcome for patients in both forms of therapy. Perceived social support from a special person was directly related to favorable improvement in grief symptomatology for patients in interpretive therapy, but unrelated for those in supportive therapy. The results highlight the importance of assessing the level of support patients perceive from their social networks. The findings also suggest that the effect of perceived social support may also depend on the source of the support. Possible explanations and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.