Prolonged grief disorder is defined by grief lasting longer than what duration for adolescents and children, and adults?

• A. Lasts longer than 6 months for adolescents and children and 12 months or longer for adults.
• B. Lasts exactly 3 months for all ages.
• C. Lasts 24 hours.
• D. Is cured by denial.

Answer: (A)

Prolonged grief disorder is diagnosed when a grief reaction remains intense and impairing well beyond normal expectations. The key timing difference by age is that for children and adolescents the threshold is six months, while for adults it is twelve months. This recognizes developmental differences in how grief can present at different ages and when it becomes clinically significant. The pattern includes persistent longing or preoccupation with the deceased, distress, and significant impairment in functioning that lasts past those timeframes. The other options don’t fit: three months is too short for any age, lasting 24 hours isn’t a chronic pattern, and the idea that denial cures grief contradicts how prolonged grief manifests and is assessed.