Elsevier

Journal of Adolescence

Volume 24, Issue 2, April 2001, Pages 159-169
Journal of Adolescence

Regular Article
Adolescents' bereavement experiences. Prevalence, association with depressive symptoms, and use of services

https://doi.org/10.1006/jado.2001.0379Get rights and content

Abstract

The present study set out to estimate the prevalence of bereavement experiences in adolescents, the association between these experiences and depressive symptoms and the attitudes of bereaved young people to professional interventions. The study was based on 1746 adolescents aged between 11 and 16 years from two secondary schools in Northern England. Questionnaire measures of bereavement experiences and depressive symptoms were completed by the adolescents in the classroom. One thousand three hundred and fifty-five (77·6%) reported that at least one of their first-or second-degree relatives or close friends had died. These losses were associated with increased levels of depressive symptoms in comparison with the loss of other relatives or pets. The impact of the loss of someone close depended to an important extent on the young person's perception of how the loss had changed their lives. Most adolescents did not feel the need for professional services. Those who did use these services had higher levels of depressive symptoms, suggesting that service use was likely to have been appropriate.

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Cited by (130)

  • Bereavement and reactions of grief among children and adolescents: Present data and perspectives

    2020, Encephale
    Citation Excerpt :

    Epidemiological studies centered on this issue are sparse. A study conducted in the UK in 2001 on 1746 adolescents aged 11 to 16 [21] showed that 77.6% of the children and adolescents questioned had already experienced the death of at least one person close to them (first or second degree relative or member of the close circle). In the USA, around 4% of children and adolescents (up to age 18) experience the loss of one of their parents [22].

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Reprint requests and correspondence should be addressed to: Richard Harrington, Department of Child Psychiatry, Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, Pendlebury, Manchester M27 4HA, U.K. (E-mail [email protected]).

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