To explore the differential impact that a parent's death would have on persons who vary in age, 84 parentally bereaved adolescents and 79 parentally bereaved adults completed the Texas Revised Inventory of Grief and the Hopkins Symptom Checklist, in addition to answering questions regarding their perceptions of the parent's funeral. Results suggested more intense grief reactions and more negative interpersonal perceptions among bereaved adolescents. Moreover, this younger group reported less positive perceptions of their parents' funerals. These findings point to greater sensitivity of adolescents to the death of a parent, and underscore the importance of investigating the availability, timeliness, and efficacy of social support and interventions designed to lessen loneliness and isolation from others when a parent dies during this life phase.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BalkD. E. (1981). Sibling death during adolescence: Self concept and bereavement reactions. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana.
2.
BalkD. E. (1983). Adolescents' grief reactions and self-concept perceptions following sibling death: A study of 33 teenagers. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 12, 137–161.
3.
BalkD. E. (1990). The self-concepts of bereaved adolescents: Sibling death and its aftermath. Journal of Adolescent Research, 5 (1), 112–132.
4.
BalkD. E. (2001). College student bereavement, scholarship, and the university: A call for university engagement. Death Studies, 25, 67–84.
5.
BalkD. E., & CorrC. A. (1996). Adolescents, developmental tasks, and encounters with death and bereavement. In CorrC. A. & CorrD. E. (Eds.), Handbook of adolescent death and bereavement (pp. 3–24). New York: Springer.
6.
BalkD. E., & CorrC. A. (2001). Bereavement during adolescence: A review of research. In StroebeM.HanssonR.StroebeW., & ShutH. (Eds.), Handbook of bereavement research (pp. 199–218). Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.
7.
BalkD. E.Tyson-RawsonK., & Colletti-WetzelJ. (1993). Social support as an intervention with bereaved college students. Death Studies, 22, 427–450.
8.
BosleyG. M., & CookA. S. (1994). Therapeutic aspects of funeral ritual: A thematic analysis. Journal of Family Psychotherapy, 4, 69–83.
9.
BugenL. (1977). Human grief: A model for prediction and intervention. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 47, 196–206.
10.
CrowneD. P., & MarloweD. (1960). A new scale of social desirability independent of psychopathology. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 24, 349–354.
11.
DerogatisL. R.LipmanK. R.RickelsK.UhlenhuthE., & CoviL. (1974). The Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL): A self-report symptom inventory. Behavioral Science, 19, 1–15.
12.
EisenbergN.MillerP. A.ShellR.McNalleyS., & SheaC. (1991). Prosocial development in adolescence: A longitudinal study. Developmental Psychology, 27, 849–857.
13.
FaschingbauerT. R.ZisookS., & DeVaulR. (1987). The Texas Revised Inventory of Grief. In ZisookS. (Ed.), Biopsychosocial aspects of bereavement (pp. 109–124). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press, Inc.
14.
FlemingS. J., & AdolphR. (1986). Helping bereaved adolescents: Needs and responses. In CorrC. A. & McNeilJ. N. (Eds.), Adolescence and death (pp. 97–118). New York: Springer.
15.
FlemingS. J., & BalmerL. E. (1996). Bereavement in adolescence. In CorrC. A. & BalkD. E. (Eds.), Handbook of adolescent death and bereavement (pp. 139–154). New York: Springer.
16.
FreudA. (1958). Adolescence. In The psychoanalytic study of the child: Vol. 13 (pp. 255–278). New York: International Universities Press.
17.
FristadM. A.CerelJ.GoldmanM.WellerE. B., & WellerR. A. (2000–2001). The role of ritual in children's bereavement. Omega, 42, 321–339.
18.
GaminoL. A.EasterlingL. W.StirmanL. S., & SewellK. W. (2000). Grief adjustment as influenced by funeral participation and occurrence of adverse funeral events. Omega, 41, 79–92.
19.
GarberB. (1985). Mourning in adolescence: Normal and pathological. Annals of the American Society for Adolescent Psychiatry, 12, 371–387.
20.
GrayR. (1987). Adolescent response to the death of a parent. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 16, 511–525.
21.
HarrisE. S. (1991). Adolescent bereavement following the death of a parent: An exploratory study. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 21, 267–281.
22.
HayslipB.ServatyH. L., & GuarnacciaC. A. (1999). Age cohort differences in perceptions of funerals. In de VriesB. (Ed.), End of life issues: Interdisciplinary and multidimensional perspectives (pp. 23–36). New York: Springer.
23.
HoganN. S., & GreenfieldD. B. (1991). Adolescent sibling bereavement: Symptomatology in a large community sample. Journal of Adolescent Research, 6, 97–112.
24.
JemmottJ. B., & JemmottL. S. (1993). Alcohol and drug use during sexual activity: Predicting the HIV-risk-related behaviors of inner-city black male adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Research, 8, 41–57.
25.
KoocherG. P. (1973). Childhood, death, and cognitive development. Developmental Psychology, 9, 369–375.
26.
MeshotC. M., & LeitnerL. M. (1993). Adolescents mourning and parental death. Omega, 26, 287–299.
27.
MeshotC. M., & LeitnerL. M. (1994). Death threat, parental loss, and interpersonal style: A personal construct investigation. In NeimeyerR. A. (Ed.), Death anxiety handbook: Research, instrumentation, and application (pp. 181–191). Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis.
28.
MireaultG. C., & CompasB. E. (1996). A prospective study of coping and adjustment before and after a parent's death from cancer. Journal of Psychosocial Oncology, 14, 1–18.
29.
NoppeL. D., & NoppeI. C. (1996). Ambiguity in adolescent understandings of death. In CorrC. A. & BalkD. E. (Eds.), Handbook of adolescent death and bereavement (pp. 25–41). New York: Springer.
30.
Ragow-O'BrienD.HayslipB., & GuarnacciaC. A. (2000). The impact of hospice on attitudes toward funerals and subsequent bereavement adjustment. Omega, 41, 291–305.
31.
RaphaelB. (1983). The anatomy of bereavement.New York: Basic Books.
32.
RosenH. (1991). Child and adolescent bereavement. Child and Adolescent Social Work, 8, 5–16.
33.
SheskinA., & WallaceS. E. (1976). Differing bereavements: Suicide, natural, and accidental death. Omega, 7, 229–242.
34.
SilvermanP. R., & WordenJ. W. (1992). Children's understanding of funeral ritual. Omega, 25, 319–331.
35.
SilvermanP. R., & WordenJ. W. (1993). Children's reactions to the death of a parent. In StroebeM. S.StroebeW., & HanssonR. (Eds.), Handbook of bereavement: Theory, research, and intervention (pp. 300–316). New York: Cambridge University Press.
36.
SpeeceM. W., & BrentS. B. (1996). The development of children's understanding of death. In CorrC. A. & CorrD. M. (Eds.), Handbook of childhood death and bereavement (pp. 29–50). New York: Springer.
37.
StrahanR., & GerbasiK. C. (1972). Short, homogeneous versions of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 28, 191–193.
38.
StroebeM., & StroebeW. (1989–90). Who participates in bereavement research? A review and empirical study. Omega: Journal of Death and Dying, 20, 1–30.
39.
SugarM. (1968). Normal adolescent mourning. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 22, 258–269.
40.
SwansonE. A., & BennettT. F. (1982–83). Degree of closeness: Does it affect the bereaved's attitudes toward selected funeral practices?Omega, 13, 43–50.
41.
Tyson-RawsonK. J. (1996). Adolescent responses to the death of a parent. In CorrC. A. & BalkD. E. (Eds.), Handbook of adolescent death and bereavement (pp. 155–172). New York: Springer.
42.
WassH. (1995). Death in the lives of children and adolescents. In WassH. & NeimeyerR. A. (Eds.), Dying: Facing the facts (pp. 269–301). Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis.
43.
WeberJ. A., & FournierD. G. (1985). Family support and a child's adjustment to death. Family Relations: Journal of Applied Family & Child Studies, 34, 43–49.
44.
WordenJ. W. (1996). Children and grief: When a parent dies.New York: Guilford Press.
45.
WrennR. L. (1999). The grieving college student. In. DavidsonJ. D. & DokaK. J. (Eds.), Living with grief: At work, at school, at worship (pp. 131–141). Levittown, PA: Brunner/Mazel.
