JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Bereavement to cancer increases the risk for prolonged grief disorder. Yet, specialized treatment options for prolonged grief after a loss to illness are still scarce.

Objective:

We aimed to extent previous findings by evaluating a web-based cognitive-behavioral intervention with asynchronous therapist support, consisting of structured writing tasks adapted specifically for prolonged grief after cancer bereavement.

Methods:

The intervention was evaluated in a purely web-based randomized waitlist-controlled trial. Open access recruitment of participants was conducted online. Prolonged grief (Inventory of Complicated Grief), depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress, posttraumatic growth, somatization, sleep quality, mental and physical health were assessed online via validated self-report measures.

Results:

N = 87 participants were randomized into the intervention group (IG, n = 44) or waitlist control (WCG, n = 43). Six participants dropped out of the study (n = 5 in IG). Of the 39 completers in the IG, 37 completed all intervention tasks. The intervention reduced symptoms of prolonged grief (p < .001, η2 = .34, d = .80) to a clinically significant extent. It had favorable effects on depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress, posttraumatic growth, and overall mental health, but not on somatization, sleep quality or physical health.

Conclusions:

The examined web-based intervention for prolonged grief after cancer bereavement is effective in reducing symptoms of PGD and accompanying syndromes in a timely, easily realizable manner, and addresses specific challenges of bereavement to illness. Considering web-based approaches in future mental health care policy and practice can reduce health care gaps for those who are bereaved to cancer. Clinical Trial: German Clinical Trial Register (UTN: U1111–1186-6255)