A multifaceted psychometric evaluation of the Continuing Bonds Scale

Continuing bonds - ongoing emotional connections between bereaved individuals and the deceased - are central to contemporary grief theory, yet their measurement remains underexamined. We evaluated the psychometric properties of the Continuing Bonds Scale in a sample of 165 individuals who had been bereaved of a romantic partner. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the proposed factor structure; item response theory examined item functioning; and psychometric network and unique-variable analyses were conducted to assess dimensionality and redundancy. Several items showed poor performance and were removed; the revised scale was subsequently reevaluated, including tests of measurement invariance across groups and contexts. Although some improvement was observed, overall model fit remained suboptimal. These findings suggest that existing measures may inadequately capture the continuing bonds construct, underscoring the need to reconsider how continuing bonds are conceptualized and measured in grief research.