The adolescent grief inventory: Development of a novel grief measurement

Background: To develop an empirically derived, reliable and valid measure of grief in adolescents, aged 12-18 years old. Methods: An online survey comprising 59 items derived from a qualitative study of 39 bereaved adolescents, the Hogan Inventory of Bereavement Children and Adolescents (HIB), the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS-21), the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), and a series of death-and mental health-related questions, targeted adolescents bereaved when aged 12-18 years, with 176 adolescents (80.6% girls) completing the survey. Results: Factor Analysis of the 59-items resulted in a final solution, the Adolescent Grief Inventory (AGI) comprised of 40 items and 6 factors: Sadness, Self-blame, Anxiety and Self-harm, Shock, Anger and Betrayal, and Sense of Peace, with indices of good fit (RMSEA = 0.057, CFI = 0.952, TLI = 0.948). There was strong evidence of convergent (HIB) and divergent (MSPSS) validity. Adolescents bereaved by suicide scored higher on Self-blame, Anger and Betrayal while those with a history of suicidal behaviour or having a mental health diagnosis scored higher overall than those who had not. Limitations: Study limitations include the self-selected, mostly female, sample, a high proportion of participants with a mental health and self-harm history, and reliance on self-reported data. Conclusions: The AGI is a novel, comprehensive and valid measure of grief in adolescents. It can be used broadly, including with bereaved adolescents at-risk of mental health ramifications.