Prolonged grief following the recent death of a daughter among mothers who experienced distal losses during the Khmer Rouge era: Validity of the prolonged grief construct in Cambodia

Abstract

This study addressed the validity of the prolonged grief (PG) construct in a Cambodian context. Eighty mothers who lost a young adult daughter stemming from a crowd stampede incident during the annual water festival were interviewed at the six-month post-loss point along with a control group of similarly aged women who were not recently bereaved. Both groups were assessed for PG, PTSD, anxiety, and depression symptoms and well as for the number of distal losses experienced during the Khmer Rouge (KR) regime – knowing that all the women were old enough to have lived through the KR regime. Support for the discriminant validity of PG was shown in a factor analysis in which its core symptoms were distinguished from anxiety, depression, and PTSD symptoms. Also, support was found for its incremental validity as shown in the unique sensitivity of PG in distinguishing the two groups when controlling for the other symptoms. Lastly, a positive relationship was found between the number of distal deaths experienced during the KR regime and PG symptom severity among the group of recently bereaved mothers, providing support for the predictive validity of PG. Implications as well as study limitations are discussed.