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

Abstract

AbstractAfter 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.