Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Sep 25;15(10):1312.
doi: 10.3390/bs15101312.

Internet-Delivered Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (iCBT) for Spanish-Speaking Adults with Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD): A Randomized Feasibility Trial

Cintia Tur  1 , Daniel Campos  2 , Laura Díaz-Sanahuja  3 , Sara Fernández-Buendía  4 , Jorge Grimaldos  4 , Laura De la Coba-Cañizares  4 , Evaldas Kazlauskas  5 , Soledad Quero  4   6
Affiliations

Internet-Delivered Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (iCBT) for Spanish-Speaking Adults with Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD): A Randomized Feasibility Trial

Cintia Tur et al. Behav Sci (Basel). .

Abstract

Losing a loved one is a painful process that usually diminishes over time. Despite that, one out of ten bereaved adults are at risk of developing Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) Internet-delivered cognitive-behavioral therapies (iCBTs) can reach individuals in need of therapy and are both cost-effective and clinically effective. This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of an iCBT for Spanish-speaking individuals with PGD (GROw) compared to the same intervention delivered in a face-to-face videoconferencing format. As a secondary objective, the potential efficacy of GROw was explored. A total of 31 participants were randomized to the experimental group (N = 16) (GROw) and the active control group (N = 15) (videoconferencing treatment). There were four assessment points: baseline, after intervention, and 3- and 12-month follow-ups. Both GROw and videoconferencing treatments were well accepted in terms of preferences, expectations, satisfaction and evaluation about the usefulness of the intervention, and showed significant symptomatology reduction with large effect sizes in most of the outcomes. The dropout rate was 50% in the GROw and 33.33% in the videoconferencing group. GROw is a feasible, well-accepted iCBT for the treatment of PGD with promising results related to its potential efficacy.

Keywords: Spanish-speaking sample; internet-delivered cognitive-behavioral therapy; prolonged grief disorder; randomized feasibility trial.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
“Screenshots” of the “Psychology and Technology” web platform.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Participants flow diagram.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Acierno R., Kauffman B., Muzzy W., Tejada M. H., Lejuez C. Behavioral activation and therapeutic exposure vs. cognitive therapy for grief among combat veterans: A randomized clinical trial of bereavement interventions. American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. 2021;38(12):1470–1478. doi: 10.1177/1049909121989021. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Andersson G. Using the Internet to provide cognitive behaviour therapy. Behaviour Research and Therapy. 2009;47(3):175–180. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2009.01.010. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Andersson G., Carlbring P., Hadjistavropoulos H. D. The science of cognitive behavioral therapy. Elsevier; 2017. Internet-based cognitive behavior therapy; pp. 531–549. - DOI
    1. Andersson G., Cuijpers P., Carlbring P., Riper H., Hedman E. Guided Internet-based vs. face-to-face cognitive behavior therapy for psychiatric and somatic disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis. World Psychiatry. 2014;13:288–295. doi: 10.1002/wps.20151. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Andrews G., Cuijpers P., Craske M. G., McEvoy P., Titov N. Computer therapy for the anxiety and depressive disorders is effective, acceptable and practical health care: A meta-analysis. PLoS ONE. 2010;5(10):e13196. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0013196. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources