Specker Philippa, Pociūnaitė-Ott Justina, Rosenblum Ariela Lev, Marcolini Sofia, Waschnig Pascale, Magoon Christopher, Joseph Annie-Lori, Nijborg Lieke C J, Pan Xi, Lenferink Lonneke I M
School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
Department of Psychology, Health & Technology, Faculty of Behavioural Management and Social Sciences, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands.
Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2025 Dec;16(1):2515705. doi: 10.1080/20008066.2025.2515705. Epub 2025 Jun 23.
A strong social safety net may play a key role in protecting people from developing prolonged grief disorder (PGD) after a traumatic loss. This has mainly been investigated cross-sectionally, whereby people usually report on their social life and PGD reactions during the past month. However, retrospectively recalling experiences is prone to recall bias. As such, we investigated the associations between pleasantness of social interactions and PGD reactions in traumatically bereaved people using Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA). People whose loved one died due to homicide, suicide, or accident at least 12 months earlier ( = 36, 78% women, = 56, 47% met PGD criteria) received smartphone-based surveys five times per day for two weeks. Surveys included questions about PGD intensity (e.g. 'In the past 3 hours, did you yearn for your loved one?' 0 = not at all, 6 = extremely) and their quality of social life (e.g. 'In the past 3 hours, how did you find being with others?' 0 = very unpleasant, 6 = very pleasant). Linear mixed models were used. Based on 2520 measurement occasions, we found that when a person enjoyed their social life more than usual, they grieved less ( = -0.141, = 0.020, < .001). However, whether a person's social life was more or less pleasant than their peers was not related to their PGD levels. This EMA study highlights the importance of accounting for individual variability in grief reactions after loss and highlights the potential utility of strengthening one's social safety net as a way to reduce the burden of PGD.
一个强大的社会安全网可能在保护人们免受创伤性丧失后发展为持续性悲伤障碍（PGD）方面发挥关键作用。这主要是通过横断面研究进行调查的，即人们通常报告他们过去一个月的社交生活和PGD反应。然而，回顾性地回忆经历容易出现回忆偏差。因此，我们使用生态瞬时评估（EMA）研究了创伤性丧亲者社交互动的愉悦程度与PGD反应之间的关联。那些至少在12个月前因凶杀、自杀或事故失去亲人的人（ = 36人，78%为女性， = 56人，47%符合PGD标准），在两周内每天接受5次基于智能手机的调查。调查包括关于PGD强度的问题（例如，“在过去3小时里，你是否思念你的亲人？”0 = 完全没有，6 = 极其强烈）以及他们的社交生活质量（例如，“在过去3小时里，你觉得与他人在一起怎么样？”0 = 非常不愉快，6 = 非常愉快）。使用了线性混合模型。基于2520个测量时刻，我们发现，当一个人比平时更享受他们的社交生活时，他们的悲伤程度会减轻（ = -0.141， = 0.020， <.001）。然而，一个人的社交生活比同龄人更愉快或更不愉快与他们的PGD水平无关。这项EMA研究强调了考虑丧失后悲伤反应个体差异的重要性，并强调了加强社会安全网作为减轻PGD负担的一种方式的潜在效用。
