title: Associations between prolonged grief disorder, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and anxiety in Rwandan genocide survivors.
abstract: A number of studies have demonstrated that symptoms of prolonged grief disorder (PGD) represent a symptom cluster distinct from bereavement-related depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The aim of the present study was to confirm and extend these findings using the most recent criteria defining PGD. The authors interviewed a total of 400 orphaned or widowed survivors of the Rwandan genocide. The syndromes were strongly linked to each other with a high comorbidity. Principal axis factoring resulted in the emergence of 4 different factors. The symptoms of depression, along with the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral symptoms of PGD, loaded on the first factor, symptoms of anxiety on the second factor, symptoms of PTSD on the third factor, and the separation distress symptoms of PGD on the fourth factor. This indicates that the concept of PGD includes symptoms that are conceptually related to depression. However, the symptom cluster of separation distress presents a grief-specific dimension that may surface unrelated to depressive symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany. Susanne.Schaal@uni-konstanz.de
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schaal
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Butare, Butare, Rwanda.
authors.forename: Jean-Pierre
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Dusingizemungu
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.
authors.forename: Nadja
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jacob
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany.
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Neuner
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Elbert
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D001601:Bereavement; D002648:Child; D054540:Child, Orphaned / Q000523:psychology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D003906:Developing Countries; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D063365:Genocide / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D006117:Grief; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D012432:Rwanda; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology*; D017805:Widowhood / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult