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. 2024 Jan 11.
doi: 10.1002/cpp.2950. Online ahead of print.

The associations of grief-related rumination with prolonged grief and posttraumatic stress symptoms: A longitudinal study of bereaved after the 2011 terror attack in Norway

Jens C Thimm  1   2 , Pål Kristensen  2 , Ingebjørg Fossberg Aulie  3 , Ida Marie Larsen  4 , Iren Johnsen  2
Affiliations

The associations of grief-related rumination with prolonged grief and posttraumatic stress symptoms: A longitudinal study of bereaved after the 2011 terror attack in Norway

Jens C Thimm et al. Clin Psychol Psychother. .

Abstract

After the sudden and violent death of a loved one, many bereaved experience symptoms of prolonged grief (PG) and posttraumatic stress (PTS). The present study investigated the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of grief-related rumination with PG and PTS symptoms among bereaved parents and siblings after the Utøya terror attack in Norway on 22 July 2011 (N = 110, Mage = 43.2 years, 59.1% female). Participants' responses on the Rumination Scale, the Inventory of Complicated Grief and the Impact of Event Scale-Revised 28, 40 and 102 months after the loss were analysed. Cross-sectionally and longitudinally, grief-related rumination was positively and strongly linked with PG and PTS symptoms. When controlling for the baseline levels of PG and PTS symptoms and demographics of the sample, grief-related rumination predicted PG symptoms after 12 months but not after 74 months. Further, grief-related rumination predicted significantly the PTS symptoms of avoidance after 12 and 74 months and hyperarousal after 74 months beyond sample demographics and baseline symptoms. The results suggest that grief-related rumination is an important factor in PG and PTS symptoms after traumatic bereavement.

Keywords: Utøya terror attack; bereavement; grief-related rumination; posttraumatic stress; prolonged grief; violent death.

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