Brief Description
The Inventory of Complicated Grief (ICG) assesses indicators of pathological grief, such as anger, disbelief, and hallucinations. It also measures the severity of the prolonged grief symptoms. The instrument consists of statements concerning the immediate bereavement-related thoughts and behaviors of the individual to measure the affect, thoughts, and behaviors related to the loss of a loved one. Respondents rate how often they experience the grief symptoms listed (e.g., “I think about this person so much that it’s hard for me to do the things I normally do”) on a scale from “Never” to “Always.”
Assessment Administration Type
Self-report
Number of questions
19
Age Range for Administration
18+
Recommended Frequency of Administration
No standardized frequency; recommend administering every other week or as clinically indicated.
Summary of Scoring and Interpretations
The ICG contains 19 questions scored on a 5-point Likert scale with values from 0 (“Never”) to 4 (“Always”). A total score is calculated by summing the item responses and ranges from 0 to 76; higher scores are associated with higher levels of, or more severe, complicated grief. The initial ICG cutoff proposed to be indicative of complicated grief was 25, meaning that respondents with ICG scores greater than 25 tend to be significantly more impaired in social, general, mental and physical health functioning and in bodily pain than those with ICG scores less than or equal to 25. Note, many clinicians and researchers also use a score threshold of ≥30, which suggests clinically significant complicated grief symptoms.
Blueprint Adjustments
Blueprint uses 25 as the clinical cut-off score.
Clinical Considerations
Estimated completion time: 4-6 minutes
Complicated grief is a significant health concern for older adults, resulting in significant psychological and physical morbidity. Elements of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are often present in individuals with complicated grief.
Three different types of complicated grief are posited in clinical work: chronic grief, which is intense, prolonged, or both; delayed grief; and absent grief.
Citation
Relevant Articles + Further Resources
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