Childhood Bereavement: Psychopathology in the 2 Years Postparental Death

• NCJ Number: 214397
• Journal: Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Volume: 45 Issue: 6 Dated: June 2006 Pages: 681-690
• Author(s): Julie Cerel Ph.D.; Mary A. Fristad Ph.D.; Joseph Verducci Ph.D.; Ronald A. Weller M.D.; Elizabeth B. Weller M.D.
• Date Published: June 2006
• Length: 10 pages
• Grant Number(s): 1R01MH44135; 1R01MH45534
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Mental Health
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study followed a sample of bereaved children for 2 years after the death of a parent in order to examine differences in psychiatric symptomatology between these children and two control groups (one group of children who had never experienced the death of an immediate family member and a group of children with diagnoses of a major depressive disorder).

Abstract

The children who experienced the death of a parent showed elevated depressive and other symptoms in the 2 years following the parent's death; depressive symptoms began to decline after 6 months and continued to decline at 13 and 25 months. Other psychiatric symptoms declined more slowly and remained at a higher rate than the control group of children who had not experienced the death of an immediate family member. The bereaved children, however, showed significantly fewer depressive and other psychiatric symptoms than the depressed control group at all measurement points. The most notable risk factors for mental health problems among bereaved children were the remaining parent having depressive symptoms following the death, the presence of other stressful life events in the family, and lower socioeconomic status. Children with these additional risk factors warrant more careful monitoring and support for the grieving parent. A total of 360 bereaved children (ages 6-17) and their surviving parents were directly interviewed at 2, 6, 13, and 25 months during the 2 years following the parent's/spouse's death. Psychiatric symptoms were compared among the bereaved children, 110 depressed children, and 128 children who had not experienced the death of an immediate family member. Additional analyses examined bereavement without other complicating stressors compared with bereavement accompanied by other stressors and anticipated compared with unanticipated death of the parent. 2 tables, 2 figures, and 36 references