Eklund Rakel, Eisma Maarten C, Boelen Paul A, Arnberg Filip K, Sveen Josefin
Department of Medical Sciences, National Centre for Disaster Psychiatry, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
Department of Clinical Psychology and Experimental Psychopathology, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands.
Front Psychiatry. 2022 Apr 25;13:872314. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.872314. eCollection 2022.
The death of a child is a devastating experience for most parents. Consequently, bereaved parents are at risk to develop physical and mental health problems, including prolonged grief disorder. Nevertheless, there is a lack of evaluated psychosocial interventions for bereaved parents. The primary aim of this study was to examine the feasibility of the My Grief app for bereaved parents. The secondary aim was to evaluate the potential reduction of symptoms of prolonged grief, depression and post-traumatic stress, and cognitive-behavioral processes proposed to prolong grief reactions. The study was a mixed-method open trial design, using pre- and post-intervention surveys and post-intervention interviews. Thirteen parents had access to the app for 4 weeks, eight parents participated in interviews and 10 parents answered the follow-up survey. The study provided evidence for the app's feasibility and acceptability, with participants reporting satisfaction with the app and stating that they would recommend it to parents in similar situations. According to the participants, the app was easy to use, the content gave a feeling of not being alone or weird in how one grieves, and the app gave a valuable overview of information, knowledge and further support. In addition, all parents expressed that an app like My Grief is needed and would be particularly useful to access early in the grieving process. Significant reductions of prolonged grief symptoms ( = 0.86) and grief-related rumination ( = 0.72), loss avoidance ( = 0.95) and negative cognitions ( = 1.36) from pre- to post-assessment were found. In conclusion, the app appears acceptable and feasible to use and will be evaluated in a larger randomized controlled trial (Trial registration number: NCT04552717, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04552717).
对大多数父母来说，孩子的死亡是一种毁灭性的经历。因此，痛失亲人的父母有出现身心健康问题的风险，包括持续性悲伤障碍。然而，针对痛失亲人的父母，缺乏经过评估的心理社会干预措施。本研究的主要目的是检验“我的悲伤”应用程序对痛失亲人的父母的可行性。次要目的是评估该应用程序对持续性悲伤、抑郁和创伤后应激症状的潜在减轻效果，以及对被认为会延长悲伤反应的认知行为过程的影响。该研究采用混合方法开放试验设计，使用干预前和干预后的调查问卷以及干预后的访谈。13名父母使用该应用程序4周，8名父母参与了访谈，10名父母回答了随访调查问卷。该研究为该应用程序的可行性和可接受性提供了证据，参与者报告对该应用程序感到满意，并表示会向处于类似情况的父母推荐。据参与者称，该应用程序易于使用，其内容让人感觉在悲伤方式上并不孤单或怪异，并且该应用程序提供了有价值的信息、知识和进一步支持的概述。此外，所有父母都表示需要像“我的悲伤”这样的应用程序，并且在悲伤过程早期使用会特别有用。从评估前到评估后，发现持续性悲伤症状（=0.86）、与悲伤相关的沉思（=0.72）、回避损失（=0.95）和消极认知（=1.36）有显著减少。总之，该应用程序似乎可以接受且使用可行，将在一项更大规模的随机对照试验中进行评估（试验注册号：NCT04552717，https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04552717）。
