The Bereaved Child

Annotation: Childhood Bereavement Following Parental Death

“…Subsequently, there has been increased theoretical and empirical interest in the effects of parental death upon children's later development. (Baker, Sedney, & Gross, 1992 ;Black, 1978 ;Worden, 1986).…”

“…However, early studies are often descriptive and based on psychoanalytic case studies (see Miller, 1971, for review), or consider children referred for psychiatric help (Black, 1978). A higher incidence of parental bereavement has been reported in child psychiatric clinic attenders compared to controls (Rutter, 1966).…”

“…In a previous review of the literature in this journal, Black (1978) concludes '' bereaved children are more likely than children from intact homes to develop psychiatric disorders both in childhood and in adult life, although the differences are small ' ' (p. 291). The putative association between parental loss, childhood disturbance, and later psychiatric disorder continues to receive support (Black, 1994(Black, , 1998, although the strongest evidence Requests for reprints to : Dr Linda Dowdney, Department of Psychology, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey GU2 5XH, U.K. comes from retrospective studies of adults with mental health problems.…”

“…This article examines the evidence supporting Black's (1978) conclusion that bereavement is a risk factor for psychopathology. Both child outcome and the possible moderating and mediating variables that influence outcome are considered.…”

Coping with loss: Bereavement in childhood

“…Children who are bereaved early are more likely to develop psychiatric disorders in later childhood 11. Rutter found a fivefold increase in childhood psychiatric disorder in bereaved children compared with the general population 12…”