Bereavement Outcomes as Causal Systems: A Network Analysis of the Co-Occurrence of Complicated Grief and Posttraumatic Growth

Bereavement can lead to negative outcomes such as complicated grief (CG), but some mourners with symptoms of CG often experience positive sequelae of loss such as posttraumatic growth (PTG) as well. We propose that grief and growth co-occur and change one another because they alternately reinforce and weaken each other at the level of their respective constituent elements. We investigated the structure of a network of CG and PTG elements to elucidate how grief and growth can co-occur within a potentially causal system in bereaved young adults. Challenges to control and identity disturbance ranked as the most highly central symptoms in the CG network; the discovery of a new life path and greater personal strength were similarly central elements of PTG. Finally, the degree of disruption and change in mourners’ worldviews emerged as the element that most strongly bridged the two domains, suggesting a pivotal connection between grief and growth.