The National Archive of Grief Support Studies
The National Archive of Grief Support Studies(NAGSS) database provides bibliographical information and summaries of recent articles selected for their relevance to grief and bereavement service providers. The articles that are summarized are selected from scholarly, peer-reviewed journals and are intended to highlight key concepts as well as provide a brief statement of implications for service providers. Bibliographical information may be used to obtain the original article.
International Comparison of Studies Using the Perinatal Grief Scale: A Decade of Research on Pregnancy Loss
Authors:
Toedter, L. J.
Lasker, J. N.
Janssen, H. J. E. M.
Source:
Death Studies: 2001. Volume 25, pp. 205-228.
Summary
This article describes the measure, Perinatal Grief Scale (PGS), and describes and compares the results of 22 studies using the PGS with 2485 participants from the United States, the Netherlands, Great Britain, and Germany. The PGS was constructed to encompass the multiple and varied dimensions of grief. The three subscales of the measure are: 1) Active Grief, 2) Difficulty Coping, and 3) Despair. Despite the many differences of location, language, type of pregnancy loss, and methods of recruitment and studies, results show that the PGS has excellent internal consistency reliability, construct and convergent validity, and external validity.
Key words: miscarriage, perinatal, pregnancy, research, stillbirth
Service Provider Implications
The results of this international comparison of studies using the PGS strongly suggest that the PGS, with its high reliability and validity, is a valuable tool to the clinician in determining perinatal grief and is a valuable research tool.
