Changes in perceived social support after group therapy for complicated grief

This study investigated changes in perceived social support after group therapy for patients who developed complicated grief reactions subsequent to a variety of death losses. Sixty-one psychiatric outpatients, who received either interpretive or supportive group therapy, rated their perceptions of social support from 3 sources (family, friends, a special person) before treatment onset, after treatment completion, and 6 months after treatment. For patients in both forms of therapy, perceived social support from all 3 sources changed significantly during the follow-up period, but not during the treatment period. Changes (pretherapy to 6-month followup) in depressive symptomatology were found to be associated with changes in perceived social support. The results suggest that perceived support improves after, but not during, psychiatric treatment of complicated grief, and that a reduction in depression severity is associated with improvement in perceived social support. Possible explanations and implications of these findings are discussed.