CBT alleviates prolonged grief in children, adolescents

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is effective in the treatment of prolonged grief disorder and its symptoms in bereaved children and adolescents, according to a study.

“The superior long-term effects of CBT Grief-Help relative to supportive counseling suggest that this treatment successfully strengthens children and adolescents in facing challenges brought about by bereavement,” the authors said.

This study randomized 134 children and adolescents with prolonged grief disorder (mean age 13.10 years, bereaved a mean of 37.79 months earlier) to receive either CBT Grief-Help (n=74) or supportive counseling (n=60). Both interventions consisted of nine individual sessions with the participants paralleled by five counseling sessions with parents or caretakers.

Children and adolescents completed measures of prolonged grief disorder, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), while their parents or caretakes completed measures of their children’s problem behaviour prior to treatment, immediately after treatment, and 3, 6, and 12 months after treatment.

Both interventions generated moderate to large effect sizes across prolonged grief disorder and most of the outcome measures. CBT Grief-Help yielded significantly greater reductions in prolonged grief disorder symptoms at all post-treatment assessments as compared with supportive counseling.

In addition, CBT Grief-Help was more effective in alleviating depression, PTSD symptoms, and internalizing problems 6 and 12 months after treatment.

Prolonged grief disorder was recently included in International Classification of Diseases 11th Revision and resembles persistent complex bereavement disorder, newly included in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition, according to the authors.