The association between one’s social life and symptoms of prolonged grief following a traumatic loss: an ecological momentary assessment study

<b>Background:</b> A strong social safety net may play a key role in protecting people from developing prolonged grief disorder (PGD) after a traumatic loss. This has mainly been investigated cross-sectionally, whereby people usually report on their social life and PGD reactions during the past month. However, retrospectively recalling experiences is prone to recall bias. <b>Objective:</b> As such, we investigated the associations between pleasantness of social interactions and PGD reactions in traumatically bereaved people using Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA). <b>Methods:</b> People whose loved one died due to homicide, suicide, or accident at least 12 months earlier (<i>N</i> = 36, 78% women, <i>M</i>_age = 56, 47% met PGD criteria) received smartphone-based surveys five times per day for two weeks. Surveys included questions about PGD intensity (e.g. ‘In the past 3 hours, did you yearn for your loved one?’ 0 = not at all, 6 = extremely) and their quality of social life (e.g. ‘In the past 3 hours, how did you find being with others?’ 0 = very unpleasant, 6 = very pleasant). Linear mixed models were used. <b>Results:</b> Based on 2520 measurement occasions, we found that when a person enjoyed their social life more than usual, they grieved less (<i>B</i> = −0.141, <i>SE</i> = 0.020, <i>p</i> &lt; .001). However, whether a person’s social life was more or less pleasant than their peers was not related to their PGD levels. <b>Conclusions:</b> This EMA study highlights the importance of accounting for individual variability in grief reactions after loss and highlights the potential utility of strengthening one’s social safety net as a way to reduce the burden of PGD. The link between one’s social life and prolonged grief reactions was examined using ecological momentary assessment in traumatically bereaved people.We found that when people perceived their social interactions or time spent alone to be more pleasant than usual, they grieved less.Also, when people were in the presence of others, they grieved less.Strengthening one’s social safety net after traumatic loss seems clinically useful. The link between one’s social life and prolonged grief reactions was examined using ecological momentary assessment in traumatically bereaved people. We found that when people perceived their social interactions or time spent alone to be more pleasant than usual, they grieved less. Also, when people were in the presence of others, they grieved less. Strengthening one’s social safety net after traumatic loss seems clinically useful.