Brief measure for screening complicated grief: reliability and discriminant validity

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Psychological Assessment
• Grief Research

Background:

• Complicated grief often goes unrecognized, leading to significant functional impairment.
• The Brief Grief Questionnaire (BGQ) is a brief instrument for screening complicated grief.
• Previous validation of the BGQ was limited to help-seeking populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate the Brief Grief Questionnaire (BGQ) in a broader Japanese population.
• To assess the reliability and validity of the BGQ for screening complicated grief.

Main Methods:

• A mailed questionnaire was sent to a random sample of 5000 individuals in Japan.
• The BGQ was administered to 915 respondents bereaved for 6 months to 10 years.
• Confirmatory factor analysis and Cronbach's alpha were used to assess validity and reliability.

Main Results:

• The BGQ demonstrated a uni-dimensional factor structure, invariant across gender and age.
• Internal consistency was high (Cronbach's alpha = .75).
• Discriminant validity was supported by Average Variance Extracted exceeding shared covariance with the K6 scale.

Conclusions:

• The study supports the reliability and validity of the BGQ for the Japanese population.
• The findings extend the utility of the BGQ to a general population sample.
• Future research should explore the predictive validity of the BGQ.