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Most family caregivers adapt well to the death of their care recipient relative; however, a sizable minority continues to experience postdeath psychiatric morbidity. The purpose of this study was to better understand why some caregivers manifest clinical levels of complicated grief postdeath. This is the first study to prospectively assess predictors of complicated grief among family caregivers of patients with dementia who experience the death of their care recipient.

The sample of bereaved caregivers is drawn from a larger study of 1,222 family caregivers providing in-home care to their relative with dementia. In-home assessments of caregivers and patients were carried out at baseline and six-month intervals for a total of 18 months. This article is based on the 217 caregivers who experienced the death of their care recipient in the course of the study. Three logistic regression models are tested to identify …