Adolescent Bereavement

Abstract

The long-term effects of bereavement were assessed 7 to 9 years after death by interviews with 31 adolescent siblings from 21 families who participated in a longitudinal study of home carefor children with cancer. Categorical analysis of the semistructured interviews revealed that the majority of the adolescents viewed the experience as having fostered their personal or family growth. However, about I in 6 regarded the effects of a sibling death as continuing to have a negative impact on their lives. Factors associated with a more positive outlook were good communication in the family, ability to share the death experience with others, expression of pleasure in sibling's company, and reliance on the family for emotional support. Factors associated with a more negative outlook were withdrawal from family interaction, inability to use the family as a source of support, and difficulty in discussing one's experience with death.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Balk, D. (1983). Adolescents' grief reactions and self-concept perceptions following sibling death: A study of teenagers. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 12, 137-161.

Blinder, B. J. (1972). Sibling death in childhood. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 2, 169-175.

Cairns, N. U. , Clark, G. M. , Smith, S. D. , & Lansky, S. B. (1979). Adaptation of siblings to childhood malignancy. Journal of Pediatrics, 95, 484-487.

Cicirelli, V. G. , & Nussbaum, J. F. (1989). Relationships with siblings in later life. In J. F. Nussbaum (Ed.), Life-span communication: Normative processes (pp. 283-299). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Craft, M. J. (1990). Sibling support. In M. J. Craft & J. A. Denehy (Eds.), Nursing interventions for infants and children (pp. 30-42). Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders.

Demi, A. S. , & Gilbert, C. M. (1987). Relationship of parental grief to sibling grief. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 1, 385-391.

Goetting, A. (1986). The developmental tasks of siblingship over the life cycle. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 48, 703-714.

Graham-Pole, J. , Wass, H. , Eyberg S. , Chu, L. , & Olejnik, S. (1989). Communicating with dying children and their siblings: A retrospective analysis. Death Studies, 13, 465-483.

Hollingshead, A. B. (1957). The two-factor index of social position. New Haven, CT: Author.

10.

Lauer, M. E. , Mulhern, R. K. , Bohne, J. B. , & Camitta, B. M. (1985). Children's perceptions of their sibling's death at home or hospital: The precursors of differential adjustment. Cancer Nursing, 8, 21-27.

11.

Martinson, 1. M. (1980). Home care for the child with cancer (Final report). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota. (Available from Ida M. Martinson, Family Health Care Nursing, School of Nursing N411Y, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143-0606).

12.

McClowry, S. G. , Davies, E. B. , May, K. A. , Kulenkamp, E. J. , & Martinson, I. M. (1987). The empty space phenomenon: The process of grief in the bereaved family. Death Studies, 11, 361-374.

13.

McCown, D. E. , & Pratt, C. (1985). Impact of sibling death on children's behavior. DeathStudies, 9,923-335.

14.

McNeil, J. N. (1986). Talking about death: Adolescents, parents and peers. In C. A. Corr & J. N. McNeil (Eds.), Adolescence and death (pp. 185-201). New York: Springer.

15.

Spinetta, J. J. , & Deasy-Spinetta, P. (Eds.). (1981). Living with childhood cancer. St. Louis, MO: C. V. Mosby.

16.

Thompson, T. L. (1989). Communication and dying: The end of the life-span. In J. F. Nussbaum (Ed.), Life-span communication: Normative processes (pp. 339-359). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

17.

Walker, C. W. (1988). Stress and coping in siblings of childhood cancer patients. Nursing Research, 37, 208-212.