The psychological experiences of grieving for adolescents recently bereaved of a parent

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Parental bereavement has generated interest internationally, and yet very few bereavementstudies have been conducted within South Africa, even though the prevalence of South Africanadolescents experiencing parental bereavement is on the increase. The attachment theory explainswhy the loss of a parental figure during adolescence could have a long lasting negative influenceon adolescents' psychological development. The present study aimed to explore thepsychological experience of bereavement for 66 adolescents who recently lost either a parent or asignificant caregiver who played a parental role for the bereaved adolescent.By means of a cross-sectional quantitative design the following variables were examined:depression (using the Beck Depression Inventory–Second Edition; BDI-II), anxiety (using theBeck Anxiety Inventory; BAI), coping (using the Coping Strategy Indicator; CSI), attachment(using the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment; IPPA) and social support (using the SocialSupport Appraisal; SSA).The results showed that the strongest significant positive correlations were betweendepression and anxiety, followed by positive correlations between attachment to the remainingmother figure and problem-solving coping. Furthermore, the results showed that the strongestsignificant negative correlations were between: depression and problem-solving coping, followedby the correlation between attachment to the remaining mother figure and peers and depression.Support from significant attachment figures in the bereaved adolescent's life was found topromote healthy adjustment to the significant loss by lowering depression and strengtheningperceived social support for the bereaved adolescent.For the South African population, peer run support group interventions, based in schools orcommunity youth groups, have been identified as best suited to promote resilience foradolescents during the bereavement process. The interventions would bring together bereavedadolescents, creating a support group for the adolescent to draw on during their bereavement.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University