Start delivering measurement based mental health care
Conduct psychological assessments remotely, get scores automatically, and maintain clinical records securely
Create account
The Pandemic Grief Scale (PGS) is a self-report mental health screener of dysfunctional grief due to a COVID-19 loss. Because losing someone to COVID-19 can be particularly challenging, the PGS was developed to help clinicians and researchers efficiently identify cases of individuals impaired by this form of loss.
You can create a free account on PsyPack to access fillable PDFs, manuals and educational resources for the PGS
PsyPack can automatically score the PGS assessment and prepare corresponding tables and graphs.
Grief
The purpose of the evaluation is to:
Self-administered
Clinical
Questionnaire
18 years and above
Less than 2 minutes
Since the questionnaire relies on client self-report, all responses should be verified by the clinician, and a definitive diagnosis is made on clinical grounds taking into account how well the client understood the questionnaire, as well as other relevant information from the client.
Elevated scores on a particular item or a high total scale score (≥ 7) may indicate problematic symptoms for the individual that might warrant further assessment and/or treatment. Clinical judgement should guide the interpretation of the PGS results.
Endorsement of item 1 (a death wish or suicidal thinking) is an indicator of possible suicidal risk. A final decision about the actual risk of self-harm requires further assessment and clinical interview. Further assessment of suicide risk can be made by asking about the “4 P’s”: past suicide attempts, a plan, probability of completing suicide, and preventive factors.
The PGS holds considerable promise as an efficient and valid measure of problematic grief in the context of bereavement resulting from COVID-19. However, it also could prove valuable in identifying risk of dysfunctional grief resulting from non-COVID losses in the course of the pandemic, as virtually all deaths occurring during this public health crisis are experienced in the same climate of infection-mitigation policies, regulations and general stressors that may adversely affect the mourners’ adaptation, whatever the cause of death.
Psychometric properties: The PGS was developed on a large sample of adults (N = 831) who lost a significant person to COVID-19. The PGS is a reliable instrument (αs > .86), with solid factorial (single-factor), construct (correlates with alcohol/drug coping and suicidal ideation), and incremental (predicts impairment above depression and anxiety) validity. The diagnostic properties of the PGS (87% sensitivity, 71% specificity, and AUC = .87) are comparable to other psychiatric screening instruments, such as the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ).
Lee, S. A., & Neimeyer, R. A. (2020). Pandemic Grief Scale: A screening tool for dysfunctional grief due to a COVID-19 Loss. Death Studies.