ArticleTrials2021
Naltrexone treatment for prolonged grief disorder: study protocol for a randomized, triple-blinded, placebo-controlled trial.
Article in Trials, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 8 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Naltrexone Treatment for Prolonged Grief Disorder: A Pilot Study
Naltrexone Treatment for Prolonged Grief Disorder: A Proof of Concept Study
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prolonged grief disorder in later life: advancing our understanding of biopsychosocial mechanisms to guide future personalized interventions.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Review
- The impact of trauma and how to intervene: a narrative review of psychotraumatology over the past 15 years.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2025Article
- The Iatrogenic Consequences of Medicalising Grief: Resetting the Research Agenda.Sociology of health & illness · 2025Article
- Effectiveness of emotion-focused therapy on anger, guilt, and self-destructive behaviors in people with prolonged grief disorder: A randomized clinical trial.Journal of education and health promotion · 2025Article
- Grief and coping among relatives of patients who died of COVID-19 in intensive care during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.BJPsych open · 2024Article
- Prolonged Grief Disorder: Unveiling Neurobiological Mechanisms for a Shared Path Forward.The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry · 2024Article
- Prolonged grief disorder in ICD-11 andThe Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry · 2023Review
- Industry influence on mental health research: depression as a case example.Frontiers in medicine · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThere is a lack of effective pharmacotherapy for prolonged grief disorder (PGD). Evidence suggests that the neurobiology of PGD involves the same circuitry as the reward pathway. Based upon this evidence, we hypothesize that PGD can be conceptualized as a disorder of addiction and therefore could benefit from being treated with medications that are currently used to treat such disorders. One such medication is naltrexone, which is currently used to treat alcohol and opioid dependence. Oral naltrexone was chosen for its mechanism of action, safety, and convenience. The primary aim of this study is to establish the efficacy of using oral naltrexone as a pharmacological treatment for PGD. Specifically, we hypothesize that participants receiving naltrexone will demonstrate reduced PGD symptoms when compared to placebo. METHODS/
designThis is a randomized, placebo-controlled, triple-blinded (to healthcare professionals/study staff, participants, and data analysts) study in which we propose to enroll 48 participants who meet criteria for Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD). Participants will be randomly assigned to the naltrexone 50 mg oral arm or placebo arm; medications will be over-encapsulated to appear identical. Participants will take their assigned medication for 8 weeks, with clinic visits every 4 weeks to assess symptom severity, social closeness, and adverse reactions. Weekly surveys of Prolonged Grief-13-Revised (PG-13-R) will be used to relate naltrexone use to changes in PGD symptom severity. Follow-up 4 weeks after their last visit will assess the longevity of treatment, as well as any lingering adverse reactions. DISCUSSION: This study is the first to investigate the use of oral naltrexone as pharmacological treatment for PGD. The acute and debilitating nature of the disorder, in addition to the increased risk of comorbidities, highlights the need for pharmacological treatment like naltrexone that can act more rapidly, may help those for whom psychotherapy may not be effective, and/or may augment psychotherapy to promote PGD symptom grief resolution.
trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT04547985 . Registered on 8/31/2020.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.