Pandemic Grief Scale
Pandemic Grief Scale (PGS) · Also known as: PGS, COVID Grief Scale
The Pandemic Grief Scale (PGS) is a brief screening instrument assessing grief reactions specific to death losses during COVID-19. Developed by Zisook and colleagues in 2021, it adapts the Inventory of Complicated Grief (ICG) items to pandemic bereavement contexts, measuring both typical grief responses and complicated grief symptoms. The PGS recognizes that pandemic deaths—often characterized by social isolation, restricted funeral rituals, and constrained grieving practices—create unique bereavement trajectories requiring tailored support.
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When to use it
The PGS is appropriate for screening pandemic-bereaved individuals in primary care, mental health clinics, hospices, and bereavement support services. Use to identify those at risk for complicated grief requiring specialized intervention. Suitable for epidemiological studies examining mental health burden of pandemic deaths. Effective in culturally diverse populations when translated with attention to cultural mourning norms and pandemic-specific loss context. Less suitable for pre-loss grief anticipation; designed for post-loss assessment.
Strengths & limitations
- Pandemic-specific content increases face validity and perceived relevance compared to generic grief measures; respondents feel their specific loss context is recognized.
- Grounded in ICG, a rigorously validated complicated grief measure with decades of clinical utility; PGS inherits strong psychometric foundation while adding pandemic specificity.
- Brevity (12–19 items) supports administration in busy clinical settings without excessive respondent burden.
- Enables identification of pandemic-specific grief drivers (grief intensified by absent rituals, isolation during bereavement, collective trauma backdrop) distinct from non-pandemic bereavement.
- Lacks published psychometric properties; limited validation studies compared to standard ICG. Cutoff scores may require local calibration.
- Assumes COVID-19-related death; not suitable for assessing pandemic-related grief from non-death losses (separation, isolation, economic devastation) or anticipatory grief.
- Does not assess grief-related meaning-making or posttraumatic growth; focuses on symptoms rather than resilience factors or adaptive coping.
- Pandemic-specific wording becomes dated post-pandemic; requires rewording for historical assessment or novel pathogen contexts, limiting future utility.
Frequently asked
When is it appropriate to administer the PGS?
Administer 3+ months after loss, when acute shock has diminished and grief patterns stabilize. At <3 months, most grief responses are expected. At 6+ months post-loss, use to identify persistent complicated grief. Timeline is flexible if reported grief remains severe and impairing at any point.
How does pandemic grief differ from typical grief, and does the PGS measure that difference?
Pandemic grief is often intensified by restricted funerals/visitation, isolation during bereavement, and collective trauma backdrop. PGS by contextualizing loss to COVID-19 captures this specificity, but a generic grief measure would yield similar total scores. PGS's value is in face validity and research specificity, not measurement of pandemic-unique dynamics.
What is the relationship between pandemic grief and depression?
Complicated grief and major depression overlap clinically (both show anhedonia, guilt, concentration loss) but are distinct disorders. Grief centers on yearning for deceased and identity disruption; depression reflects pervasive anhedonia and hopelessness. Many pandemic-bereaved individuals develop both; use PGS + PHQ-9 to assess both constructs.
Are there grief interventions specific to pandemic bereavement?
Standard complicated grief therapy (CGT) and interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) are effective. Pandemic-specific adaptations address isolation (virtual sessions, virtual memorials), restricted rituals (creating meaningful home rituals), and collective trauma (validating societal loss). No pandemic-unique therapies exist; contextualize standard approaches to pandemic realities.
Sources
- Zisook, S., Iglewicz, A., Avanzato, M. R., Maglione, J., Glorioso, D., Zetumer, S., ... & Shuchter, S. R. (2021). Bereavement, complicated grief, and depression: A report from the experience registry of bereavement in adults. Journal of Affective Disorders Reports, 6, 100255. DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-800136-3.00018-1 ↗
How to cite this page
ScholarGate. (2026, June 3). Pandemic Grief Scale (PGS). ScholarGate. https://scholargate.app/en/public-health/pandemic-grief-scale
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