Table 3.
Psychotherapy Interventions
| Type | Format | Pop | CG | RA | Num | TSL (days) | DT | Key Outcome Measures | Article |
| Cognitive-behavioral | Individual | Senior | Y | N | 58/NR | 120–180 | 70 days; 4 sessions | Mastery (Personal Mastery Scale); Well-being (MHI subscales, ABS Subscale, PERI self-esteem); Distress (PERI Demoralization Scales, MHI subscales) | Reich & Zautra, 1989 |
| Individual | Senior | N | NA | 4/4 | 540–730 | 98 days; 14–18 sessions | Distress (SUDS); Grief (ICG); Depression (BDI); Anxiety (BAI) | Harkness, Shear, et al, 2002** | |
| Individual | Adult | Y | Y | 30/25 | >90 | 35 days; 10 sessions | Avoidance/Intrusion (IES); Anxiety (SCL-90); Depression (SCL-90); Mood (POMS) | Lange, van de Ven, et al, 2001 | |
| Individual | Adult | Y | Y-NE | 26/14 | 180–7300 | 70 days; 6 sessions | Depression (Wakefield, BDI); Physical Symptoms (Mawson et al, 1981); Fear (FQ); Grief (TRIG); Avoidance (Bereavement Avoidance Tasks) | Sireling, Cohen, & Marks, 1988 | |
| Group | Adult | Y | Y-NE | 261/147 | 46–229 | 84 days; 8 sessions | Mental Distress (BSI, GSI); PTS Symptoms (TES); Grief (GES); Physical Health (HHB); Marital Strain (DAS) | Murphy, Johnson, et al, 1998 Murphy, 1997 | |
| Group | Adult | Y | Y-NE | 110/80 | ~730 | 28 days; 8 sessions | Coping and Adaptation (TAT) | Balk, Lampe, et al, 1998 | |
| Group | Adult | Y | N | 38/21 | 90–750 | 70 days; 10 sessions | Treatment Expectancy (Expectancy Scale); Depression (BDI); Avoidance, Anxiety (Social Anxiety and Distress Scale); Enjoyability (Pleasant Events Scale); Life Satisfaction (Life Satisfaction Scale) | Walls & Meyers, 1985 | |
| Group | Adult | N | NA | 8/8 | >30 | 56 days; 8 sessions | Avoidance/Intrusion (IES); Depression (BDI, SCL-90-R); Anxiety (SCL-90-R, STAI); Grief (GRI); Distress (PERI Demoralization) | Sikkema, Kalichman, et al, 1995**** | |
| Group | Child | Y | UC | 19/18 | <730 | NR | Behavior (BRIC-S, BRIC-H); Depression (DSRS); Grief (BP) | Hilliard, 2001 | |
| Psycho-dynamic | Individual | Senior | Y | Y | 228 | ~60 | <180 days; Unlimited sessions | Number of Office Visits, Types of Illnesses | Gerber, Wiener, Battin, et al, 1975 |
| Individual | Senior | Y | Y-NE | 33/30 | 90–1170 | 14 days; 4 sessions | Mental Distress (BSI); Depression (GDS); Hopelessness (GHS); Avoidance/Intrusion (IES); Mood (PANAS) | Segal, Bogaards, et al, 1999 | |
| Individual | Adult | Y | Y | 66/56 | <49 | 90 days; up to 9 sessions | General Health(general health questionnaire) | Raphael, 1977 | |
| Individual | Adult | Y | N | 72/63 | 60–462 | 12–20 sessions | Avoidance/Intrusion (IES-A, IES-I); Depression (SCL-90); Anxiety (SCL-90); Total Pathology (SCL-90); Stress-Intrusion (SRRS); Neurotic Symptoms (BPRS) | Horowitz, Weiss, et al, 1984 | |
| Individual | Adult | N | Y-NE | 12/6 | 365–3650 | 196 days | Depression (Wakefield); Grief (TRIG) Phobic Avoidance (FQ); Hostility/Anger/Guilt (HAG); Attitude to self and deceased (author-created scales); Avoidance (Bereavement Avoidance Tasks); Physical Symptoms (Maddison & Viola, 1968); Compulsive Behavior (Compulsive Activity Checklist); Social Adjustment (Watson & Marks, 1971) | Mawson, Marks, et al, 1981 | |
| Individual | Adult | N | NA | 1/1 | <180 | 112 days; 10 sessions | Grief (Grief Scale); Coping (CRI) | Orton, 1994 | |
| Group | Senior | Y | Y | 150/117 | <365–7300 | 540 days; 6 sessions | Depression (BDI); Socialization (RSAS) | Constantino, 1988***** | |
| Psycho-dynamic | Group | Adult | Y | Y-NE | 56/53 | 120–330 | 8 sessions | Depression, Anxiety, Somatization (Hopkins Symptom Checklist); Grief Intensity, Preoccupation, Guilt, Anger (Lieberman & Videka-Sherman, 1986); Psychological Distress (Bradburn Affect Balance Scale); Locus of Control (Pearlman et al, 1981); Self-Esteem (Rosenberg scale, 1965); Social Adjustment (Pearlman et al, 1981, Lieberman & Videka-Sherman, 1986) | Lieberman & Yalom, 1992 |
| Group | Adult | Y | N | 50/50 | NR | 90 days; 14 sessions | Grief (TRIG) | Sabatini, 1988–89 | |
| Group | Adult | N | Y | 139/107 | 90–17155 | 84 days; 12 sessions | Avoidance/Intrusion (IES); Grief (TRIG); Interpersonal Distress (IIP); Social Functioning (SAS-SR); Depression (BDI); Anxiety (STAI); Mental Distress (BSI, GSI); Self-Esteem (SES); Physical Functioning (SF-36); Symptomatic Distress (SCL-90) | Piper, McCallum, et al, 2001* | |
| Group | Adult | N | Y-NE | 61/55 | 120–1095 | 84 days; 12 sessions | Avoidance/Intrusion (IES); Stress Symptoms (SRRS); Depression (BDI); Mental Distress (BPRS, SCL-90); Social Functioning (SAS-SR); Overall Functioning (GAS) | Marmar, Horowitz, et al, 1988** | |
| Group | Child | Y | N | 16/16 | 30–365 | 56 days | Depression (CDI); Behavior (AP, AT); Grief (BP); Family alliance (TP); Grief, family relationship (TC) | Tonkins & Lambert, 1996 | |
| Group | Child | N | NA | 45/37 | 30–3650 | 70 days | Trauma (CPTSRI) | Salloum, Avery, & McClain, 2001 | |
| Psycho-analytic | Group | Adult | N | N | 154/59 | NR | 84 days; 12 sessions | Affect (author created); Psychodynamic Work (PWORS); Severity of objectives (author created) | McCallum, Piper, & Morin, 1993 |
| Inter-personal | Individual | Senior | Y | Y-NE | 80/66 | 216–279 | 112 days; up to 16 sessions | Grief (TRIG) | Reynolds, Miller, et al, 1999*** |
| Behavioral and Psycho-dynamic | Individual | Adult | Y | N | 83/83 | <1825 | 15–20 sessions | Anger (State Trait Anger Inventory); Anxiety (STAI); Avoidance/Intrusion (IES); Somatic/psychoneurotic symptoms (SCL-90); (Locus of Control Scale) | Kleber & Brom, 1987 |
Notes: * Study also included support/counselling condition. ** Treatment also included aspects of interpersonal psychotherapy. *** Study also included pharmacotherapy condition. **** Treatment also included aspects of social support. ***** Study also included social activities condition. Legend: Type, Type of Intervention; Format, Format of Intervention; Pop, Target Population; CG, Control Group; RA, Random Assignment; Num, Number of subjects; TSL, Time Since Loss; DT, Duration of Trial; NA, Not Applicable; NR, Not Reported; UC, Unclear; Y, Yes; N, No; Y-NE Randomization mentioned, but allocation method not explicitly stated.