IJERPH, Vol. 18, Pages 9061: Grief Reactions and Grief Counseling among Bereaved Chinese Individuals during COVID-19 Pandemic: Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial Combined with a Longitudinal Study

This article illustrates a study protocol initiated by a Chinese university to investigate the mental health of bereaved individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic and train grief counselors to provide grief counseling to the bereaved, as well as to evaluate the effectiveness of the grief counseling. The method is as follows: (1) 300 psychological counselors will be recruited to attend the grief counseling training. Assessments will be conducted at three time points: baseline (T0), after the basic training (T1), and after the advanced training (T2); (2) 500 bereaved Chinese will be recruit to join the online survey and will be assessed at two time points with a six-month interval; and (3) a two-armed (grief counseling versus wait-list controls) RCT (random control trials) will be conducted with 160 bereaved individuals. Assessments will be conducted at three time points: before randomization (baseline, T0), at the post-counseling (T1), and three months after the post-counseling (T2). Primary outcomes will be assessed by the Prolonged Grief Questionnaire (PG-13), the 20-item PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21), and the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI). This research will help develop grief research and grief counseling in China, as well as provide professional mental health services for individuals who may suffer from grief-related disorders in the future.
Source: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Study Protocol Source Type: research