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[Assessing Complicated Grief: A Systematic Literature Review]
Heidi Müller1, Daniel Berthold2,3, Stephan Bongard4
1Trauerzentrum, Frankfurt am Main.
Summary
This review identified 22 bereavement measures for grief difficulties. Few validated scales are available in German, especially for pre-death grief assessment.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Psychiatry
- Mental Health
Background:
- Complicated grief and bereavement difficulties are significant mental health challenges.
- Numerous measurement tools exist internationally for assessing these issues.
- A gap in validated instruments for German-speaking populations has been noted.
Purpose of the Study:
- To provide a comprehensive overview of English and German speaking bereavement measurements.
- To identify scales assessing difficulties in the grieving process and complicated grief.
- To evaluate the availability and psychometric properties of these measures.
Main Methods:
- A systematic literature review was conducted.
- Databases were searched for relevant bereavement measurement scales.
- Identified measures were categorized and their psychometric properties assessed.
Main Results:
- Twenty-two distinct bereavement measures were identified.
- Scales were categorized into general, specialized, and pre-death assessments.
- The identified measures demonstrated predominantly good psychometric properties.
Conclusions:
- While many grief measures exist globally, only a limited number are available in German (3 general, 3 specialized).
- Currently, no validated scale exists in German to assess bereavement difficulties occurring prior to death.
- Further development of German-language instruments is needed to address this gap.
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