Prolonged grief symptoms and lingering attachment predict approach behavior toward the deceased.

ABSTRACT: Following the death of a loved one, both approach behaviors related to the deceased (i.e., engagement with feelings, memories, and/or reminders of the deceased) and the avoidance of reminders of the death are theorized to precipitate severe and persistent grief reactions, termed prolonged grief. The "approach-avoidance processing hypothesis" holds that these behavioral tendencies occur simultaneously in prolonged grief disorder (PGD). We tested this hypothesis using a novel free-viewing attention task. Bereaved adults (N = 72, 81.9% female) completed a survey assessing prolonged grief symptoms, depressive symptoms, and lingering attachment and a free-viewing task assessing voluntary attention toward pictures of the deceased and combinations of the deceased with loss-related words (i.e., lo

SUBMITTER: Eisma MC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11967323 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature