Measuring Dysfunctional Grief due to a COVID-19 Loss: A Kurdish Validation Study of the Pandemic Grief Scale

Abstract

Millions of people are grieving the loss of someone who died of COVID-19. The current study aims to validate a Kurdish version of the Pandemic Grief Scale which is a brief English-language mental health screener to identify cases of dysfunctional grief associated with a COVID-19 death. We recruited 501 participants. Participants completed the PGS, WSAS, PHQ-9, and Optimism scales. The factor structure, reliability, and validity of the PGS were analyzed. Using exploratory factor analysis (N1 = 300), we derived an one-factor structure. In confirmatory factor analysis (N2 = 201), the one-factor model showed good to excellent fitness. The PGS was positively correlated with PHQ-4, and WSAS and negatively correlated with optimism. The scale was internally consistent with a Cronbach's alpha of .79. These results support that the Kurdish version of the PGS is a valid and reliable assessment to assess the severity of dysfunctional grief associated with a COVID-19 death.