Abstract
To date, researchers exploring childhood bereavement have largely relied on unstandardized assessment instruments and/or have independently evaluated specific constructs rather than factoring in the dimensionality of loss. The purpose of this study was to utilize psychometrically established instruments to examine the multivariate shared relationship between characteristics of bereaved children referred for counseling--their ages, genders, ethnicities, types of loss, and life stressors—and their behavioral manifestations as well as the relationship between these characteristics and levels of parent-child relational stress. Utilizing archival clinical files, we examined these characteristics from bereaved children (N = 98) whose parents sought counseling services from two university-based counseling clinics. Two canonical correlational analyses (CCA) were conducted to examine the following: (1) relationship between characteristics of bereaved children and their subsequent behavioral manifestations, (2) relationship between characteristics of bereaved children and levels of parent-child relational stress. Correlational findings from this study provided insight into bereaved children’s manifestations of loss and levels of parent-child relational stress as contingent upon these specific characteristics. Specifically, results indicated a strong relationship between age and bereaved children’s behavioral manifestations. This finding reinforced the importance for clinicians to understand developmental implications when working with bereaved children. Furthermore, caregivers who reported minimal overall external stressors also reported less parent-child relational interference. This finding further emphasizes the importance for caregivers to maintain utmost stability for bereaved children.
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Author Contributions
LE: designed and executed the study, conducted and interpreted data analysis, and was the primary author for the manuscript. DCR: collaborated with the design of the study and assisted with writing and editing the manuscript.
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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
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Ener, L., Ray, D.C. Exploring Characteristics of Children Presenting to Counseling for Grief and Loss. J Child Fam Stud 27, 860–871 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-017-0939-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-017-0939-6