Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Adolescent bereavement following the death of a parent: An exploratory study

  • Articles
  • Published:
Child Psychiatry and Human Development Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Eleven healthy adolescents, ages 13–18, were followed through the year following parental death. Semi-structured interviews were used in combination with standardized measures to complete in-depth evaluations at 6 weeks, 7 months and 13 months following parental death. Teacher reports and parent interviews and reports provided additional information. Initial responses were characterized by intense emotional, cognitive, physical and behavioral reactions associated with impaired school performance, strained peer relations, and sleep disturbances. Stress related symptoms were prominent and sustained. Overall, subjects reported a higher sustained degree of distress than adult children following the loss of a parent. Prominent themes are reviewed. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Horowitz MJ, Krupnick J, Kaltreider N: Initial psychological response to parental death.Arch Gen Psychiatry 38:316–323,1981.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Horowitz MJ, Marmar C, Weiss DS, DeWitt, KN, Rosenbaum, R: Brief psychotherapy of bereavement reactions.Arch Gen Psychiatry 41:438–448,1984.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Clayton PJ: Mortality and morbidity in the first year of widowhood.Arch Gen Psychiatry 30:747–750, 1974.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Parkes CM, Weiss RS:Recovery of Bereavement. New York: Basic Books, 1983.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Parkes, CM. Determinants of outcome following bereavement:Omega 61:303–323, 1975.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Maddison, D, Walker WL: Factors affecting the outcome of conjugal bereavement.Br J Psychiatry 113:1057–1067, 1967.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Schleifer, SJ, Keller, SE, Thornton, JC, Stein, M: Suppression of lymphocyte stimulation following bereavement.JAMA 250:374–377, 1983.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Vachon, ML et al.: A controlled study of self-help intervention for widows.Am J Psychiatry 137:1380–1384, 1980.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Raphael, B: Preventive intervention with the recently bereaved.Arch Gen Psychiatry 34:450–1354, 1977.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Kliman, G, Gerber, I, Weiner, A, Kutscher, A, Battin, D, Arkin, A, Goldberg, I: “Facilitation of mouring during childhood”. In:Perspectives on Bereavement. edited by I. Gerber et al., New York: Arno Press, 1979.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Krupnick, JL, Solomon, F: “Death of a parent or sibling during childhood”. In:The Psychology of Separation and Loss, edited by J. Bloom-Feshbach and S. Bloom-Feshbach. San Francisco: Jossey Bass Publishers, 1987.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Nagy, M: The child's theories concerning death.J of Genet Pschol 73:1–12, 1948.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Koocher, G: Childhood, death, and cognitive development.Dev Psychol 9:369–375. 1973.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Kane, B: Children's concepts of death.J Genet Psychol 134:141–153, 1979.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Menig-Peterson, C, McCabe, A: Children talk about death.Omega, 8:305–317, 1978.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Elizur, E, Kaffman, M: Children's bereavement reactions following the death of the father: II.J Am Acad Child Psychiatry 21 (5):474–480, 1982.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Kaffman, M, Elizur, E: Bereavement responses of kibbutz and non-kibbutz children following the death of the father.J Child Psychol Psychiatry 24(3):435–442, 1983.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Kliman, G: “Death in the family”. In:Psychological Emergencies of Childhood. edited by G. Kliman. New York: Grune & Stratton, 1968.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Rutter, M:Children of Sick Parents. Oxford: Oxford Press, 1966.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Raphael, B:The Anatomy of Bereavement. New York: Basic Books, 1983.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Gregory, I: Anterospective data following childhood loss of parent.Arch Gen Psychiatry 13:99–120, 1965.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Cheifetz, PN, Stavrakakis, G, Lester, EP: Studies of the affective state in bereaved children.Can J Psychiatry 34:688–692, 1989.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Birtchnell, J: Early parental death and mental illness.Br J Psychiatry 116:281–288, 1970.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Brown, G, Harris, L, Copeland J: Depression and loss.Br J Psychiatry 130:1–18, 1977.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Tennant, C, Bebbington, P, Hurry, J: Parental death in childhood and risk of adult depressive disorders: a review.Psychol Med 10:289–299, 1980.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Pfohl, B, Strangl, D, Tsuang, M: The association between early parental loss and diagnosis in the Iowa 500.Arch Gen Psychiatry 40:965–967, 1983.

    Google Scholar 

  27. Gray, RE: Adolescent response to the death of a parent.J Youth Adolesc 16:511–525, 1987.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Balk, D: Effects of sibling death on teenagers.J Sch Health 53:14–18, 1983.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Wolfenstein, M: How is mourning possible?Psychoanal Study Child 21:93–123, 1966.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Miller, JBM: Children's reaction to the death of a parent: a review of the psychoanalytic literature.J Am Psychoanal Assoc 19:697–719,1971.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Van Eerdewegh, M, Bieri, M, Parilla, R, Clayton, P: The bereaved child.Br J Psychiatry 40:23–29, 1982.

    Google Scholar 

  32. Van Eerdewegh, MM, Clayton, PJ, Van Eerdewegh, P: The bereaved child: Variables influencing early psychopathology.Br J Psychiatry 147:188–194, 1985.

    Google Scholar 

  33. Wessel, MA, McCullough, WB: Bereavement—an etiologic factor in peptic ulcer in childhood and adolescence?J Adolesc Health Care 2:287–288, 1982.

    Google Scholar 

  34. Kovacs, M: The Children's Depression Inventory (CDI).Psychopharmacol Bull 21: 995–998, 1985.

    Google Scholar 

  35. Smucker, MR, Craighead, WE, Craighead, LW, Green, BJ: Normative and reliability data for the Children's Depression Inventory.J Abnorm Child Psychol 14: 25–39, 1988.

    Google Scholar 

  36. Achenback, TM, Edelbrock, CS:Manual for the Youth Self Report. Burlington, VT.: University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry, 1985.

    Google Scholar 

  37. Zilberg, NJ, Weiss, DS, Horowitz, MJ: Impact of Event Scale: A cross-validation study and some empirical evidence supporting a conceptual model of stress response syndromes.J Consult Clin Psychol 50:407–414, 1982.

    Google Scholar 

  38. Horowitz, MJ, Winer, N, Alvarez, W: Impact of event scale: A measure of subjective stress.Psychosom Med 42:209–218, 1979.

    Google Scholar 

  39. Achenbach, TM, Edelbrock, CS:Manual for the Teacher's Report Form and Teacher Version of the Child Behavior Profile. Burlington, VT.: University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry, 1986.

    Google Scholar 

  40. Beck, AT, Ward, CH: An inventory for measuring depression.Arch Gen Psychiatry 4:561–571, 1961.

    Google Scholar 

  41. Costello, AJ, Edelbrock, C, Dulcan, MK, Kala, R, Klaric, SH: Development and testing of the NIMH Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children in a clinic population. Final report (Contract No. RFP-DB-81-0027) Rockville, MD: Center for Epidemiologic Studies, National Institute of Mental Health, 1984.

    Google Scholar 

  42. Costello, EJ, Pantino, T: The new morbidity: Who should treat it?J Dev Behav Pediatr 8:288–291, 1987.

    Google Scholar 

  43. Coleman, JC: “Friendship and the peer group in adolescence.” In:Handbook of Adolescent Psychology edited by J. Adelson. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1980.

    Google Scholar 

  44. Malinak, DP, Hoyt, MF, Patterson, V: Adults' reactions to the death of a parent: a preliminary study.Am J Psychiatry 136:1152–1156, 1970.

    Google Scholar 

  45. Breier, A, Kelsoe, JR, Kirwin, PD, Beller, SA, Wolkowitz, OM: Early parental loss and development of adult psychopathology.Arch Gen Psychiatry 45:987–993, 1988.

    Google Scholar 

  46. Wortman, CB, Silver, RC: The myths of coping with loss.J Consult Clin Psychol 57:349–357, 1989.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of California, San Francisco

    Emily S. Harris MD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science)

  2. Division of Child Psychiatry and Child Development at Stanford University, Stanford, CA

    Emily S. Harris MD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science)

Authors
  1. Emily S. Harris MD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

This study was undertaken while Dr. Harris was a fellow in the Clinical Services Research Training Program in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco and was supported in part by NIMH Clinical Services Research Training Grant No. T32-MH18261 and BRSG Grant S07-RR05755 awarded by the Biomedical Research Support Grant Program, Division of Research Resources, National Institutes of Health.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Harris, E.S. Adolescent bereavement following the death of a parent: An exploratory study. Child Psych Hum Dev 21, 267–281 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00705931

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00705931

Key words

Search

Navigation