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Background <p>Loneliness is a major obstacle for bereaved individuals. Negative expectations concerning social interactions contribute to loneliness and impede grief recovery. Disconfirming social experiences can violate these expectations. This study examines the efficacy of an expectation violation intervention in reducing grief-related negative social expectations and loneliness.</p> Methods <p>This randomized controlled online trial with 129 bereaved participants (30.21 ± 11.17&#xa0;years; 86.6% female) compared an expectation violation intervention (re-experiencing a positive social interaction that disconfirmed negative expectations) with a relaxation intervention. Negative social expectations, loneliness, grief severity, and affect were assessed before and after the intervention.</p> Results <p>Negative social expectations decreased significantly (<i>F</i>(1126) = 26.55, <i>p</i> &lt; 0.001, η<sub><i>p</i></sub><sup>2</sup> = 0.17, 95% CI [0.07, 0.29]), but no group differences emerged. Loneliness also decreased, with a greater reduction in the expectation violation group: <i>F</i>(1126) = 6.99, <i>p</i> = 0.009, η<sub><i>p</i></sub><sup>2</sup> = 0.05, 95% CI [0.01, 0.14]. Other outcomes showed no significant differences between groups.</p> Conclusions <p>While both interventions reduced negative social expectations, violating grief-related social expectations led to a greater reduction in loneliness. The findings provide proof-of-concept that a brief expectation violation intervention can be beneficial to target loneliness after bereavement, yet the mechanism of change remains to be tested. Further research is needed to replicate these findings and explore the underlying mechanism and its clinical application.</p>

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Challenging Negative Expectations to Combat Loneliness in Bereavement: A Randomized Controlled Trial

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年1月24日

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  • Caroline Wanza,
  • Winfried Rief,
  • Bettina K. Doering

摘要

Background

Loneliness is a major obstacle for bereaved individuals. Negative expectations concerning social interactions contribute to loneliness and impede grief recovery. Disconfirming social experiences can violate these expectations. This study examines the efficacy of an expectation violation intervention in reducing grief-related negative social expectations and loneliness.

Methods

This randomized controlled online trial with 129 bereaved participants (30.21 ± 11.17 years; 86.6% female) compared an expectation violation intervention (re-experiencing a positive social interaction that disconfirmed negative expectations) with a relaxation intervention. Negative social expectations, loneliness, grief severity, and affect were assessed before and after the intervention.

Results

Negative social expectations decreased significantly (F(1126) = 26.55, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.17, 95% CI [0.07, 0.29]), but no group differences emerged. Loneliness also decreased, with a greater reduction in the expectation violation group: F(1126) = 6.99, p = 0.009, ηp2 = 0.05, 95% CI [0.01, 0.14]. Other outcomes showed no significant differences between groups.

Conclusions

While both interventions reduced negative social expectations, violating grief-related social expectations led to a greater reduction in loneliness. The findings provide proof-of-concept that a brief expectation violation intervention can be beneficial to target loneliness after bereavement, yet the mechanism of change remains to be tested. Further research is needed to replicate these findings and explore the underlying mechanism and its clinical application.