Understanding the Impact of Loss: A Research into the Relation between Quality of Life and Prolonged Grief Symptoms, as Moderated by the Relation and Bond to the Deceased

Abstract

The present study aimed to gain more insight into the risk factors of Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) in children after significant loss, using Neimeyer’s model of pathways to complicated grief as a theoretical basis. The factors were chosen based on how threatening they would make the loss to the survivor’s sense of self, happiness, and survival. The relation between quality of life and prolonged grief symptoms was examined through a regression analysis, while also examining the moderating effects of both the nature and strength of the relation between the child and the deceased. Quality of life was found to have a significant effect on prolonged grief symptoms. Neither the relation types were found to moderate this relation. Clinical implications include a proposal for a preventative group-based intervention program for children and adolescents. Due to methodological limitations, future research is needed to further examine the factors used in the present study.