Peer-reviewed article
A preliminary validation of the traumatic grief inventory-kids-caregiver-report (TGI-K-CR).
Lonneke I M Lenferink, Alison Nieuwenhuijse ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study validates a new screening tool called the Traumatic Grief Inventory-Kids-Caregiver-Report (TGI-K-CR) that helps identify prolonged grief disorder in children aged 8-18 by asking caregivers about the child's grief symptoms. The tool was tested with 196 Dutch caregivers whose children had experienced bereavement, most commonly the death of a parent from illness. The screening tool showed strong internal consistency and identified useful cut-off scores to identify children likely experiencing prolonged grief disorder. The researchers found that children whose caregivers themselves reported higher grief intensity, and those who had experienced more recent losses, showed higher grief symptoms.
Key points
- The TGI-K-CR showed strong internal consistency (ω = .85 for DSM-5-TR; ω = .87 for ICD-11)
- Optimal cut-off scores were ≥46 and ≥52 for DSM-5-TR and ICD-11 prolonged grief disorder criteria respectively
- Children with higher PGD intensity had caregivers who reported higher PGD intensity themselves
- PGD intensity was higher in children when deaths occurred more recently
- 77% of deaths in the sample resulted from illness rather than other causes
Limitations
The study used a Dutch online sample of predominantly female caregivers, which may not represent broader populations. The authors note that larger samples are needed to confirm the psychometric properties of this preliminary validation.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Prolonged grief disorder (PGD) is included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders text-revised fifth edition (DSM-5-TR) and in the International Classification of Diseases Eleventh Edition (ICD-11). While PGD screening instruments exist for adults, these instruments are not applicable to children. Caretakers play a crucial role in screening for PGD in children. OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the psychometric properties of the Traumatic Grief Inventory-Kids-Caregiver-Report (TGI-K-CR) to screen for DSM-5-TR and ICD-11 PGD in children. METHOD: On a website with information about grief, 196 Dutch caregivers (82% woman; Mage = 44) completed questions about their own and their child's (47% girls; Mage = 11; 44% lost a parent) background and loss-related characteristics (77% of deaths resulted from illness). Caregivers completed the TGI-K-CR and a self-report measure about their own PGD intensity. Factor structure and internal consistency of DSM-5-TR and ICD-11 PGD items were examined separately. T-tests and correlation analyses examined whether caregiver-ratings of PGD intensity in children differed as a function of background- and loss-related characteristics. Provisional cut-offs for both criteria sets were determined. RESULTS: Confirmatory factor analyses showed support for two distinct, but related, factors for DSM-5-TR and ICD-11 PGD items. We found strong internal consistency (ω = .85 for DSM-5-TR; ω = .87 for ICD-11), while some factor loadings were poor. In support of known-groups validity, DSM-5-TR and ICD-11 PGD intensity were higher in children when caregivers reported higher PGD intensity for themselves and when deaths occurred more recently. ROC analyses showed optimal cut-off scores of ≥46 and ≥52 to determine probable caseness for DSM-5-TR and ICD-11 PGD, respectively, when summing all 16 items. CONCLUSIONS: The psychometric properties of the TGI-K-CR seem promising, but more research among larger samples is needed. This caregiver screening tool for PGD in children (aged 8-18) may advance child bereavement research and care.