The death of a loved one can lead to various mental and physical health problems.
Previous research has shown that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) can be effective in
recuding symptoms of prolonged grief. However, most previous studies have had small
sample sizes and lacked follow-up assessments over time.
The purpose of this project is to conduct a large randomized controlled trial (RCT) to
evaluate the effectiveness of internet-delivered cognitive-behavioral therapy (iCBT) in
reducing symptoms of prolonged grief, depression, and posttraumatic stress in adults who
have lost a loved one. The iCBT treatment will be compared against both an active control
condition and a waitlist condition. Participants in the active control condition will
receive a simplified version of the iCBT treatment, which is also therapist-led but lacks
active CBT components. The waitlist control group will receive the iCBT treatment after
10 weeks. Follow-up assessments will be conducted at 6 and 12 months after treatment
completion.
The study will also examine potential moderators (such as baseline symptom levels and
loss characteristics) and mediators (such as belief in treatment efficacy, changes in
negative cognitions and level of avoidance) on treatment effects. This may provide
insights into the effectiveness of prolonged grief treatment and factors that influence
treatment outcomes.
Participants will be recruited through advertisements on social media platforms, and
organisations and clinical contacts. Individuals interested in participating in the study
register their interest on a website linked to the research project, and complete an
initial screening form. Potential participants are contacted by phone to schedule an
assessment interview over video, which includes the structured diagnostic interview Mini
International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.). Subsequently, eligible participants
are randomized to iCBT, active control, or waitlist control. The participants will be
informed that they have been randomly assigned to either a waitlist or one of two grief
treatment programs but will not know which of the treatments they are in, and are thus
blind at the beginning of the study. The treatment is accessed on a digital platfom.
This study is the first of its kind in Sweden to examine the effectiveness of
internet-delivered treatment for prolonged grief. Additionally, it is the first trial to
assess both short- and long-term effects of iCBT for prolonged grief compared to an
active control group.