Sherman A. Lee, PhD, and Robert A. Neimeyer, PhD
The GIS is a mental health screening tool designed to quickly and accurately identify bereaved adults who are experiencing clinically significant impairment because of their grief.
The GIS is based on the biopsychosocial model of illness, which views disorders from multiple levels of human functioning. Specifically, the GIS measures grief-related impairment in the biological domain (i.e., health problems), two aspects of the psychological domain, which are the behavioral (i.e., unhealthy coping) and the cognitive (i.e., thinking difficulties) domains, as well as the social domain (i.e., positive engagement difficulties).
Good instrument for clinicians, researchers, and educators interested in measuring grief-related problems.
Normative data were collected on 363 bereaved adults who were struggling with grief over the death of significant people in their lives.
The GIS consists of five items, requiring a few minutes to complete and score.
The GIS provides an empirically derived cut-off score to determine probable grief-related impairment.
The GIS allows respondents to identify their own impairments within each category of functioning so that their results more accurately reflect their unique, grief-related difficulties.
The GIS measures impairment frequencies across a 30-day period, which facilitates diagnostic assessment, goal-setting, treatment planning, and epidemiological analysis.
Strong reliability (ωs from 0.80 to 0.88).
Solid unidimensional factor structure (CFIs from 0.97 to 1.00).
Measurement invariance across demographic groups.
Cross-cultural validity (South American countries and Iran)
Solid diagnostic efficacy (79% sensitivity and 74% specificity).
Good discrimination values for each GIS item (IRT analysis).
Strong convergent and divergent validity (correlates with impairment, prolonged grief, and psychological distress).
GIS items are rated on a 5-point scale, from 0 [0 days (never)] to 4 [30 days (nearly every day)], based on experiences over the past 30 days.
A GIS total score of 9 and greater indicate probable functional impairment due to grief.
Elevated scores on a particular GIS item or a high total scale score (≥ 9) may indicate problematic symptoms for the individual that might warrant further assessment and/or treatment.
Clinical judgement should guide the interpretation of the GIS results.
Contact us if you would like training on the GIS or take the HFA online workshop.
Caycho-Rodríguez, T., Lee, S. A., Yupanqui-Lorenzo, D. E., Ventura-León, J., Vilca, L. W., Baños-Chaparro, J., Valencia, P. D., Carbajal-León, C., Travezaño-Cabrera, A., Torales, J., Barrios, I., Lobos-Rivera, M. E., Reyes-Bossio, M., Sánchez-Villena, A. R., Oré-Kovacs, N., Moreta-Herrera, R., & Puerta-Cortés, D. X. (2024). Cross-Cultural Validity of the Grief Impairment Scale (GIS): Evidence from four Latin American countries. Illness, Crisis & Loss. https://doi.org/10.1177/10541373241267827
Caycho-Rodríguez, T., Travezaño-Cabrera, A., Ventura-León, J., Vilca, L. W., Baños-Chaparro, J., Yupanqui-Lorenzo, D. E., Valencia, P. D., Torales, J., Carbajal-León, C., Lobos-Rivera, M. E., Reyes-Bossio, M., Barrios, I., Jaimes-Alvarez, F., & Lee, S. A. (2024). New psychometric evidence of the Grief Impairment Scale (GIS) in people who have experienced the death of a loved one from a network psychometric approach in two Latin American countries. OMEGA – Journal of Death and Dying. https://doi.org/10.1177/00302228241256828
Yousefi, S., & Jafari, A. (2023). Psychometric properties of the Persian version of the Grief Impairment Scale. Death Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2023.2285932
Caycho-Rodríguez, T., Ventura-León, J., Sánchez Carlessi, H. H., Reyes Romero, C., Matos Ramírez, P., Lee, S. A., Barrios, I., Torales, J., Vilca, L. W., Carbajal-León, C., & Hualparuca-Olivera, L. (2023). Network structure of bereavement functional impairment symptoms measured by the Grief Impairment Scale in a Peruvian sample. Illness, Crisis & Loss. https://doi.org/10.1177/10541373231191245
Caycho-Rodríguez, T., Lee, S. A., Vilca, L. W., Lobos-Rivera, M. E., Flores-Monterrosa, A. N., Tejada Rodríguez, J. C., Chacón-Andrade, E. R., Marroquín-Carpio, W. C., Carbajal-León, C., Reyes-Bossio, M., Delgado-Campusano, M., & Torales, J. (2023). A psychometric analysis of the Spanish version of the Grief Impairment Scale: A screening tool of biopsychosocial grief-related functional impairment in a Salvadoran Sample. OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying. https://doi.org/10.1177/00302228231175383
Lee, S. A., & Neimeyer, R. A. (2022) Grief Impairment Scale: A biopsychosocial measure of grief-related functional impairment. Death Studies, 47(5), 519-530. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2022.2113605
The GIS is placed in the public domain to encourage its use in clinical assessment, education, and research. No formal permission is therefore required for its reproduction and use by others, beyond appropriate citation:
Lee, S. A., & Neimeyer, R. A. (2022) Grief Impairment Scale: A biopsychosocial measure of grief-related functional impairment. Death Studies, 47(5), 519-530. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2022.2113605
Sherman Aclaracion Lee, PhD, is an associate professor of psychology at Christopher Newport University. He studies negative feeling states, such as anxiety and grief, with a specialization in psychological measurement. He has published over 95 journal articles and book chapters and teaches courses in the psychology of personality, psychology of the human-animal bond, and the psychology of death, dying, and bereavement.
Robert A. Neimeyer, PhD, directs the Portland Institute for Loss and Transition, and maintains an active consulting and coaching practice. Neimeyer has published over 500 journal articles and book chapters as well as 30 books, including Techniques of Grief Therapy, and serves as Editor of Death Studies. He is currently working to advance a more adequate theory of grieving as a meaning-making process.
Tomás Caycho-Rodríguez, PhD, holds a doctor in psychology from the University of San Martín de Porres. He is senior researcher at the Southern Scientific University and a Renacyt distinguished researcher. He has published over 360 journal articles and specializes in psychometrics, positive psychology, and educational psychology.