Associations between interpersonal dependency and severity of prolonged grief disorder symptoms in bereaved surviving family members

Background: Several studies have shown that interpersonal dependency is a risk factor for prolonged grief disorder (PGD), a disorder that has been recently approved by the American Psychiatric Association Assembly for inclusion in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5-Text Revision (DSM-5-TR). Nevertheless, it remains undear whether this relationship is independent of depression, which may also be related to both loss and interpersonal dependency. Furthermore, anaditic dependency (maladaptive and immature) compared to relatedness (more adaptive and mature) dependency, and the relationships between these types of dependency and PGD, have not been examined. The aim of the present study was to determine how anaditic and relatedness dependency are associated with PGD symptom severity, controlling for depressive symptom severity, over and above potential sododemographic and loss-related confounder variables. Methods: Participants (N = 241) bereaved after the death of a family member from 0.5 to 8 years before the survey (M = 3.36, SD = 2.02) completed the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and the Prolonged Grief Disorder-13 scale (PG-13). Results: A hierarchical regression analysis confirmed that anaclitic dependency is positively associated with PGD symptom severity, even when controlling for depression severity and other potential confounder variables. There was no significant association between relatedness dependency and PGD. Conclusions: To assess the risk of PGD in individuals bereaved after the death of a family member, it is important to assess anaditic dependency. (C) 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Automated summary

The study found a positive association between anaclitic dependency and PGD symptom severity, while no significant association was found between relatedness dependency and PGD. Therefore, when assessing the risk of PGD in individuals bereaved after the death of a family member, it is important to focus on anaclitic dependency.