The psycho-social follow-up after the terror of July 22 nd 2011 as experienced by the bereaved.

This article presents results from one of the first longitudinal studies exploring the effects of losing a close friend to traumatic death, focusing on complicated grief over time and how this is affected by avoidant behavior and rumination about the loss. The sample consists of 88 persons (76% women and 24% men, mean age = 21) who lost a close friend in the Utøya killings in Norway on July 22, 2011.Quantitative data were collected at three time-points; 18, 28, and 40 months postloss. Main findings are that bereaved friends are heavily impacted by the loss and their grief reactions are affected negatively by avoidant behavior and rumination. This indicates that close bereaved friends are a group to be aware of and that there is a need for better strategies for identifying individuals in need for follow-up.

This article presents qualitative interview data from the research project "Grief Support Groups in Norway" (2009-2011). The aim of this part of the study was to investigate grief group participant's experiences, benefits, and satisfaction with the grief group. Positive aspects were to meet with peers, share thoughts and feelings, normalization, exchange advice and information, and share hope. On the negative side were unfulfilled needs or expectations, additional personal stress, and unsatisfactory structure, organization, and leadership. Importantly, lack of screening caused bereaved with complicated grief to participate in groups that were non-therapeutic, leaving them with insufficient help. Also, group leaders were not always considered knowledgeable of group processes and impacts of different organizational and structural factors on groups. Conclusively, participants' needs and expectations should be considered when planning and organizing groups, in order to conduct helpful groups and increase the experience of a positive outcome.

Data analyzed in this article is part of a study conducted to explore grief support groups in Norway. Participants that fulfilled the criteria of Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) were compared with participants that did not in order to explore whether they differed on satisfaction and experiences with participation. To allow for comparison, a subsample of 22 participants that fulfilled the criteria of PGD were drawn from the total of 262 participants. Demographic and loss-related variables were analyzed to explore factors associated with PGD. Fulfillment of PGD was then analyzed to explore the group's effect on life quality and overall satisfaction. The main finding is that participants who fulfill the criteria of prolonged grief are in general less satisfied with the groups and report less positive effect on life quality. We also found age- and gender-differences regarding fulfillment of PGD, with older bereaved women especially at risk of developing symptoms of PGD.