Losing a close relative, either by death or by separation, is common but counts among the major stressful life events possible. A significant part of people (10-15%) experience substantial and persistent distress after such a loss. Meta-analyses indicate that supporting them with interventions is efficient. Recently, internet-based interventions (IBIs) were developed to support grieving individuals and have shown promising results. The best results of the latter were attained with guided IBIs. In particular, our partners Brodbeck, Berger and Znoj (2017) obtained very good results with a cognitive-behaviorally oriented IBI. Two unguided IBIs have addressed grief-related difficulties. They were efficient, but to a lesser degree than guided interventions. This might not only be due to the lack of guidance, but rather because these interventions were restricted in psychotherapeutical tasks and goals. Unguided interventions have the clear advantage of being more cost-effective, because once developed, they can be applied very broadly with limited resources. Thus, the present research project aims at developing an unguided IBI, based on empirically validated tools for promoting mental health restoration and preventing deleterious effects of prolonged grief in vulnerable people after the loss of a close relative. More specifically, we aim to compare Brodbeck and colleagues’ IBI (but without guidance; LIVIA-FR-I) to a new unguided IBI that we will develop (LIVIA-FR-II). It will comprise the following modifications to fill in the actual lacks in unguided IBIs: (a) Accomplishing tasks or exercises carefully reported in agendas or goal attainment scales and coherent regarding the current grief models. (b) Letting participants choose their own way through the program. (c) Fostering activities that promote nurturing relationships and positive interpersonal proximity. (d) Resource-oriented activities inspired by clinical positive psychology. (e) Automated e-mails. (f) A forum platform for exchanges between participants. These modifications target specific basic psychological needs that have shown high relevance in psychotherapeutical context. Participants will be adults of 18 years or more who have lost a close relative at least six months ago and who subjectively struggle and suffer from this. We will randomly allocate them to two treatment conditions: LIVIA-FR-I or LIVIA-FR-II. We will measure results on both distress and well-being scales at post-intervention and six-month follow-up. Moreover, we will explore whether the effects on physical health (general health and sleep quality) and social integration measures, and whether attachment style, previous relationship quality and attitude towards touch moderate the efficacy. The project-including the preparation and online implementation of LIVIA-FR-II, the data collection, the data analyses and publications-will last four years, with a possible extension to apply the design to other mental disorders. It will enable to advance knowledge on unguided IBIs and hopefully show that their effectiveness can be significantly improved. Additionally, there is a dramatic lack in French empirically validated IBIs. As French is a widely spoken language, the potential further application of such IBIs is broad and the consequential benefits for public health important.
