Complicated grief and post-traumatic stress symptom profiles in bereaved earthquake survivors: A latent class analysis

M.C. Eisma, L.I.M. Lenferink, A.Y.M. Chow, C.L.W. Chan, J. Lie

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Background: Studies on mental health following disasters have primarily focused on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), yet severe, enduring and disabling grief (i.e., complicated grief, CG) also appears relevant.

Objective: The present study examines symptom profiles of PTSD and CG among bereaved Sichuan earthquake survivors one year after the disaster.

Methods: Self-report measures of demographic, disaster, and loss-related characteristics and symptoms of PTSD and CG were administered among 803 survivors (63% women, mean age = 46.7 years). Latent class analysis (LCA) was performed to identify subgroups of people with different PTSD and CG symptom profiles.

Results: The LCA demonstrated that a five class solution yielded the best fit, consisting of a CG class with low PTSD and high CG (N = 208), a combined class with high PTSD and high CG (N = 205), a class with low PTSD and partial CG (N = 145), a class with partial PTSD and CG (N = 136), and a resilient class with low PTSD and CG (N =
108). Being a woman (vs. man), losing a child or spouse (vs. other), being injured (vs. non-injured), and/or having a missing family member (vs. non-missing) predicted membership of the CG class compared to other classes.

Conclusions: CG appears a unique consequence of disasters involving many casualties. Disaster survivors should be screened for CG and provided with appropriate psychological treatment.
Original languageEnglish
Article number1558707
Number of pages12
JournalEuropean Journal of Psychotraumatology
Volume10
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019

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