Verliesverwerking na ontvalling : 'n psigo-ontwikkelingsprogram vir adolessente

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:Most researchers agree that for a child the death of a parent constitutes apsychological risk. Some of these children might experience the first onset ofpsychiatric disorder (depression, anxiety or substance use disorder) prior to age 20,with a peak age of occurrence at 18. Within the South African context children aremore and more confronted with parental death due to the upsurge of violence, theincrease in HIV, aids and tuberculoses, as well as many fatal traffic accidents. Theneed for psychological support of these children within the school system was broughtto the attention of the researcher by concerned surviving parents. Society tends toexpect an early (often premature) return of survivors to the activities of everyday life.The adult or child thus often finds him-/herself isolated in grief. In family context on theother hand, the single parent has to deal with the personal loss of a spouse, thechildren's loss of a parent and often also the grandparents' loss of a child.Furthermore, roles within the family have to be reallocated so as to accommodate thelost person's functions. The surviving parent is therefore often not adequatelyavailable for the child who, having had his/her personal world and belief systemshattered, does not always understand the consequences of death, primarily due tocognitive immaturity. They may react with anxiety, irrational beliefs and suppression,thus blocking a healthier course of grief.The aim of this study was to design and implement a psycho-educational griefresolution program and to investigate the effect thereof on the mood states, copingskills and self-concepts of 17 urban adolescents who had experienced parental death.Using the General Systems Theory as metatheory and the Intervention Designand-Development research methodology (Thomas & Rothman, 1994), a model ofadolescent grief resolution was devised which served as basis for the design of theprogram. The participants were requested to reappraise personal resolution of grieftasks and were introduced to cognitive restructuring (for example the relinquishment ofsuppression and the disputing of irrational beliefs). With a clearer understandingand the skills to control emotions and behaviour, they were encouraged to attribute(now with hindsight) meaning to the experience of having lost a loved one, and toincorporate the event into a personal narrative. Statistical analyses of test-retest results indicated, amongst others, that adolescentstend to prematurely avow acceptance of the loss; that the experimental groupdemonstrated less fatigue-inertia after attending the program than the control group;and that a high risk group, comprised of members of both the experimental and controlgroups, showed more depression during the re-test situation. The last finding indicatesthat a high risk group should rather receive psychotherapy than participate in a psychoeducationalprogram which is not primarily of a psychotherapeutic nature. On theother hand taking part in the program caused those adolescents to become aware oftheir need for psychotherapy.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University