Adolescent Mourning and Parental Death

Abstract

Ten male and ten female young adults, who had lost a parent by death as an adolescent, were given the Expanded Texas Grief Inventory (ETGI) in order to explore the bereavement process for this group as compared to an adult group previously studied [1, 2]. The ETGI included both “Past Behaviors and Feelings” and “Present Feelings” items. The young adults reported more intense shock, disbelief, and a sense of loss than the adult group at or around the time of the loss of the parent (i.e., as an adolescent). Further, greater anger at the deceased, sleep disturbance, increased dream activity, and irritability was reported by the young adult group as compared to the adult norm group. “Present feelings” items that were significant indicate issues of fairness around the death of the parent, identification with the deceased, an intense sense of loss that is very personal, feelings that the parent who died is irreplaceable, and a strong presence of the deceased in dreams and other people. Somatic concerns and identifications with the lost parent were less of a concern for the adolescent group than the adult group. Lastly, gender differences were explored within the young adult group. Women reported a higher degree of mourning accompanied by crying as well as feeling the need to cry more than men. Women tended to identify more with the deceased than men; this led to acquiring the habits and interests of the deceased as well as feeling the deceased was still with them.