Abstract
BackgroundThe presence of personality disorders is greatly prevalent among substance users. Personality disorders could increase vulnerability to complicated grief symptoms. Bereavement is commonly overlooked among substance users. We used network analysis to estimate the structure of relations between patterns of personality disorders and complicated grief symptoms among a bereaved substance-using population.MethodsComplicated grief and personality disorders were assessed in a sample of 196 bereaved substance users. We use the graphical least absolute shrinkage selection operator (LASSO) to compute a regularized partial correlation network revealing associations among different patterns of personality disorders and complicated grief symptoms.ResultsIn a network involving nodes for personality disorders and symptomatology of complicated grief, patterns of depressive and paranoid personality disorder showed small relationships to complicated grief symptoms. All other personality disorders showed negligible to no relationship to complicated grief symptoms. Further, in the overall network, complicated grief showed the lowest level of centrality, suggesting that it is independent of personality disorders, whereas depressive and paranoid personality disorder symptoms showed the highest centrality.ConclusionNetwork analysis can be used to understand the relationships among higher-level constructs such as disorders. We found that complicated grief is largely independent of patterns of personality disorders with the exception of depressive and paranoid. Findings have implications for assessment and appropriate treatment of complicated grief symptoms and substance use disorder.
Highlights
The majority of people adapt to bereavement over time (Bonanno et al, 2011), but for a minority, grief symptoms remain elevated and persistent, which is a clinical syndrome often described as complicated grief (Zhang et al, 2006; Boelen and van den Bout, 2008)
One factor that may increase vulnerability to complicated grief is personality disorders (PD), which have a well-documented association with substance use disorders (SUDs) (Trull et al, 2010; Goldstein et al, 2012; Agrawal et al, 2013)
Some prior research has examined the relation between personality disorders and complicated grief, no prior research has used network analysis to explore the relationships among these constructs
Summary
The majority of people adapt to bereavement over time (Bonanno et al, 2011), but for a minority, grief symptoms remain elevated and persistent, which is a clinical syndrome often described as complicated grief (Zhang et al, 2006; Boelen and van den Bout, 2008). People with substance use disorders (SUDs) are likely to have faced significant adversity. One factor that may increase vulnerability to complicated grief is personality disorders (PD), which have a well-documented association with SUD (Trull et al, 2010; Goldstein et al, 2012; Agrawal et al, 2013). Some prior research has examined the relation between personality disorders and complicated grief, no prior research has used network analysis to explore the relationships among these constructs. The presence of personality disorders is greatly prevalent among substance users. Personality disorders could increase vulnerability to complicated grief symptoms. We used network analysis to estimate the structure of relations between patterns of personality disorders and complicated grief symptoms among a bereaved substanceusing population
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