Prevalence, Correlates, and Psychiatric Burden of Prolonged Grief Disorder in U.S. Military Veterans: Results From a Nationally Representative Study.

Objectives: To examine the point prevalence and correlates of prolonged grief disorder (PGD) in a nationally-representative sample of United States (U.S.) veterans.

Mania Following Bereavement: State of the Art and Clinical Evidence.

Bereavement is the state of loss, determined in most of the cases by the death of a close person. It is probably the greatest sorrow that can occur in an individual life. Grief is a normal, healthy response to loss, evolving through stages in the process of mourning.

Adult separation anxiety disorder in complicated grief: an exploratory study on frequency and correlates.

Introduction: Complicated grief (CG) has been the subject of increasing attention in the past decades but its relationship with separation anxiety disorder (SEPAD) is still controversial. The aim of the current study was to explore the prevalence and clinical significance of adult SEPAD in a sample of help-seeking individuals with CG.

Methods: 151 adults with CG, enrolled in a randomized controlled trial comparing the effectiveness of (CG) treatment to that of interpersonal therapy, were assessed by means of the Inventory of Complicated Grief (ICG), the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D), the Work and Social Adjustment Scale (WSAS), the Adult Separation Anxiety Questionnaire (ASA-27), the Grief Related Avoidance Questionnaire (GRAQ), the Peritraumatic Dissociative Experiences Questionnaire (PDEQ), and the Impact of Events Scale (IES).

The relationships among separation anxiety disorder, adult attachment style and agoraphobia in patients with panic disorder.

Epidemiological studies indicate that separation anxiety disorder occurs more frequently in adults than children. It is unclear whether the presence of adult separation anxiety disorder (ASAD) is a manifestation of anxious attachment, or a form of agoraphobia, or a specific condition with clinically significant consequences. We conducted a study to examine these questions.

Dream content in complicated grief: a window into loss-related cognitive schemas.

Bereavement and its accompanying psychological response (grief) constitute potent experiences that necessitate the reorganization of cognitive-affective representations of lost significant attachment figures during both wakefulness and dreaming. The goals of this preliminary study were to explore whether the dream content of 77 adults with complicated grief (CG) differed from that of a normative sample and whether CG patients who dream of the deceased differ from CG patients who do not dream of the deceased on measures of daytime emotional distress. CG dreams were characterized by more family and familiar characters including the deceased (in women), and fewer social interactions and emotions compared to norms.

Mechanisms of change in cognitive behavioral therapy for panic disorder: the unique effects of self-efficacy and anxiety sensitivity.

The present study examined temporal dependencies of change of panic symptoms and two promising mechanisms of change (self-efficacy and anxiety sensitivity) during an 11-session course of cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) for Panic Disorder (PD). 361 individuals with a principal diagnosis of PD completed measures of self-efficacy, anxiety sensitivity, and PD symptoms at each session during treatment. Effect size analyses indicated that the greatest changes in anxiety sensitivity occurred early in treatment, whereas the greatest changes in self-efficacy occurred later in treatment.

The relationship between adult separation anxiety disorder and complicated grief in a cohort of 454 outpatients with mood and anxiety disorders.

Background: Recent epidemiological studies indicate that separation anxiety disorder occurs more frequently in adults than children. Data from literature suggest that Adult Separation Anxiety Disorder (ASAD) may develop after a bereavement or threat of loss. Research has demonstrated that bereaved persons may present a clinically significant grief reaction, defined as Complicated Grief (CG) that causes a severe impairment in the quality of life.

The prevalence and correlates of psychiatric comorbidity in individuals with complicated grief.

Background: Complicated grief (CG), variously called pathological or traumatic grief, is a debilitating syndrome that is not currently included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, (DSM-IV) nomenclature. One issue that remains under debate is whether this condition can be clearly distinguished from other psychiatric disorders, such as major depression and posttraumatic stress disorder, with which CG frequently coexists.

Methods: Using a structured clinical interview for CG and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, trained experienced raters conducted careful diagnostic assessments of individuals seeking treatment of bereavement-related distress.

Use of clients' self-reports to monitor Project Liberty clinicians' fidelity to a cognitive-behavioral intervention.

Objective: This study examined outcomes associated with clinicians' fidelity to key elements of a cognitive-behavioral treatment intervention developed for Project Liberty's enhanced services counseling program.

Methods: In telephone interviews 60 individuals reported how often their clinicians provided six components considered central to the intervention by the intervention developers. Respondents received services at sites where some (25 to 50 percent) or all clinicians had received training in the intervention.

Outcomes of enhanced counseling services provided to adults through Project Liberty.

Objective: Project Liberty provided brief crisis counseling to 753,015 residents of New York City and surrounding counties after the attacks on the World Trade Center. Most regained predisaster functioning after counseling. For those who did not, Project Liberty provided enhanced services by specially trained, licensed mental health professionals.

Screening for complicated grief among Project Liberty service recipients 18 months after September 11, 2001.

Objective: The authors surveyed a sample of Project Liberty crisis counseling recipients approximately 1.5 years after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, to determine the proportion of respondents who screened positive for complicated grief, a recently identified condition marked by symptoms of continuing separation distress and accompanying bereavement-related traumatic distress.

Methods: A total of 149 service recipients drawn from eight high-volume providers responded to a telephone survey that included questions to screen for complicated grief.

The road back: predictors of regaining preattack functioning among Project Liberty clients.

Objectives: This study determined the likelihood and predictors of Project Liberty counseling recipients' reporting their return to satisfactory life functioning 16 to 26 months after the September 11, 2001, attacks.

Methods: Using anonymous brief paper-and-pencil questionnaires or structured telephone interviews, 452 respondents provided retrospective ratings of their functioning in five life domains during the month before the World Trade Center attacks and the month immediately before the assessment. Information on demographic characteristics and exposure to risk during the World Trade Center attacks also was obtained and used in logistic regression models.