NCJ Number
233322
Journal
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 40 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2011 Pages: 85-96
Date Published
January 2011
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This study tested whether youth's fears of abandonment following the death of a parent led to later depressive symptoms by influencing the youth's relationships with caregivers, peers, and romantic partners.
Abstract
Fear of abandonment has been found to be associated with mental health problems for youth who have experienced a parent's death. This article examines how youth's fears of abandonment following the death of a parent lead to later depressive symptoms by influencing relationships with caregivers, peers, and romantic partners. Participants were 109 youth ages 7-16 (50 percent male), assessed 4 times over a 6-year period. The ethnic composition of the sample was non-Hispanic Caucasian (67 percent), Hispanic (16 percent), African American (7 percent), Native American (3 percent), Asian (1 percent), and Other (6 percent). Youth's fears of abandonment by their surviving caregiver during the first year of data collection were related to their anxiety in romantic relationships 6 years later, which, in turn, was associated with depressive symptoms measured at 6 years. Youth's caregiver, peer, and romantic relationships at the 6-year follow-up were related to their concurrent depressive symptoms. The relationship between youth's attachment to their surviving caregiver and their depressive symptoms was stronger for younger participants. Implications of these findings for understanding the development of mental health problems following parental bereavement are discussed. (Published Abstract) Figure, tables, and references