# Predicting complicated grief from grief processing

> **NIH NIH K23** · NEW YORK STATE PSYCHIATRIC INSTITUTE DBA RESEARCH FOUNDATION FOR MENTAL HYGIENE, INC · 2021 · $199,800

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Most people grieving the loss of a loved one will experience a period of intense pain and focusing on the loss
lasting around 6 months, which is known as acute grief. Complicated grief (CG) occurs when the experiences
of acute grief extend well past 6-months post-loss. Thoughts and feelings about the loss (i.e. grief processing)
occurring during acute grief may play a role in healthy grieving and protect against CG development.
Identification of the cognitive and emotional mechanisms of grief processing that contribute to healthy grief
resolution would advance knowledge of the goals of grieving and assist the development of interventions for
complicated grief. Two core components of grief processing are top-down regulation and balanced loss
confrontation. Top-down
pursue
related
emotional
representations
and
recruit
proportion
regulation is the ability to suppress processing of intrusive emotional information to
a stated goal. Top-down regulation may facilitate healthy grieving by allowing reprieve from intense loss
thinking. Balanced loss confrontation refers to the processing of the loss in a way that protects against
overload. Confrontation with the l oss may assist in the process of reforming one's mental
of the deceased. This tudy will test extrinsic and intrinsic measures of top-down regulation
balanced loss confrontation during acute grieving as predictors of CG development a year later We will
a sample at high-risk for CG, the suicide-bereaved, in order to maximize the likeliness that a significant
of the sample develops CG. The
s
.
findings produced by this study may advance the knowledge of
how CG develops, assist in the identification of people at high-risk for developing CG and potentially form the
basis for targeted interventions.
 The following K23 presents a research and training program that will support the applicant on the path
of becoming an independent investigator of the role of grief processing in the development of complicated grief.
The
research
mentorship, coursework, hands-on experience, seminars and classes ingrained in this training and
plan will propel the applicant to independence in the domains of1) Clinical Research, 2)
Psychometric Assessment of Grief Processing, 3) Machine Learning analysis of fMRI, 4) Biostatistics, 5)
Scientific Independence.
team
independent
and
The combination of the environment, t raining plan, research strategy and mentorship
will not only provide the candidate with a spectrum of new methods and skills that will establish him as an
research scientist, but will also produce a body of knowledge that will clarify the specific cognitive
emotional grief processes that contribute to the development of CG.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10124433
- **Project number:** 5K23MH114021-04
- **Recipient organization:** NEW YORK STATE PSYCHIATRIC INSTITUTE DBA RESEARCH FOUNDATION FOR MENTAL HYGIENE, INC
- **Principal Investigator:** Noam Schneck
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $199,800
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-04-16 → 2023-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10124433

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10124433, Predicting complicated grief from grief processing (5K23MH114021-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10124433. Licensed CC0.

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