Prolonged Grief and the Disruption of Meaning: Establishing a Mediation Model

This study aimed to test the hypothesis that meaning making is a mediating process in the relationship between risk factors for prolonged grief disorder (PGD) and subsequent emergence of PGD symptomatology. A survey design was employed with prospective measurement of PGD. The following variables were assessed 2-12 months postloss among adults across North America and Europe (N = 357): (a) risk factors for POD (insecure attachment, social support, neuroticism, violent loss, and spousal loss) and (b) meaning made. Meaning made was measured using the Grief and Meaning Reconstruction Inventory (GMRI) as well as using the Integration of Stressful Life Experiences-Short Form (ISLES-SF). At a 7-10-months follow-up (n = 171) symptoms of PGD were assessed. The mean age at the second assessment point was 44.3 years (SD = 16.1) and the majority of the sample identified as female (71.9%). Process analysis was employed to test a series of simple mediation models. When the GMRI was used as a measure of meaning, the indirect effect of each risk factor on PGD symptoms, as mediated by meaning made, was significant (95% CI). When the ISLES-SF was used to measure meaning. the indirect effect of each risk factor with the exception of violent loss was significant (95% CI). The study demonstrates that meaning making serves to mediate the adverse impact of multiple PGD risk factors on the development of PGD symptomatology. Specifically, the study suggests that PGD risk factors exacerbate symptoms of POD by impeding the meaning-making process.