Prolonged Grief and Suicide Among Veterans

Examining Prolonged Grief Disorder and Its Relationship to Self-Directed Violence Among Veterans

The primary research question in this study will ask, among those receiving outpatient mental health services (MHS) at the Eastern Colorado Healthcare System (ECHCS)/Denver Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC), how many suffer from Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD)? Here, it is hypothesized that PGD will occur within the sample. A secondary aim of this study will be to investigate how often PGD co-occurs with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and/or depression. Also, while PGD has been shown to have an effect on self-directed violence (SDV) among civilians (Prigerson, Bridge et al., 1999), no studies yet have examined the relationship between PGD and SDV among Veterans. Therefore, it also is hypothesized that as PGD severity increases among the Veteran sample, risk for SDV will increase as well. Additional research aims also will be addressed in this study. For one, it will be assessed which grief symptoms are most often reported among the Veteran sample. Also, no study has yet to examine if there are neuropsychological differences between PGD and PTSD. Therefore, another research question here is whether PGD indeed is neuropsychologically different from PTSD. Here, the exploratory hypothesis is that PGD sufferers will respond to a measure of multiple components of cognition (e.g., planning, sequencing, concentration, multitasking, and memory efficiency) in a manner that is significantly different from PTSD sufferers.

Study Overview

• Status: Withdrawn
• Conditions: Prolonged Grief Disorder; Suicidality
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: No intervention

• Study Type: Observational

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Colorado
    • Denver, Colorado, United States, 80220
      • VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System
    • Denver, Colorado, United States, 80220
      • Eastern Colorado Health Care System (ECHCS) / Denver VA Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

The participants in this observational study will be all individuals willing and eligible among those seeking outpatient mental health services at the Eastern Colorado Healthcare System (ECHCS)/Denver Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC). It is expected that 180 participants will be enrolled in an effort to obtain up to 150 completed protocols. Women and minorities will be recruited as a routine part of the study. However, given the participant population within the Eastern Colorado Healthcare System (ECHCS)/Denver Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC), it is expected the majority of participants will be Caucasian men.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age 18 and above
• Not currently active duty in any branch of the military
• English-speaking
• Ability to adequately respond to specific questions regarding the informed consent procedure.
• Active case in Mental Health Services (MHS) at the Eastern Colorado Healthcare System (ECHCS)/Denver Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Currently active duty in any branch of the military
• Non-English-speaking
• Inability to adequately respond to questions regarding the informed consent procedure.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Veterans; Veterans receiving mental health services at the Eastern Colorado Healthcare System (ECHCS)/Denver Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC)	Other: No intervention; This study will not contain a specific intervention

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Prolonged Grief Disorder- 13	At least six months post-bereavement

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Adult Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire	Within past month

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System
• Collaborators: University of Colorado, Denver

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: November 1, 2010
• Primary Completion (ACTUAL): April 1, 2011
• Study Completion (ANTICIPATED): August 1, 2011

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 22, 2010
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 22, 2010
• First Posted (ESTIMATE): November 24, 2010

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ESTIMATE): March 26, 2014
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 21, 2014
• Last Verified: March 1, 2014

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavioral Symptoms; Self-Injurious Behavior; Suicide; Suicidal Ideation
• Other Study ID Numbers: jrings1