Childhood traumatic grief: a multi-site empirical examination of the construct and its correlates.
This study evaluated the construct of childhood traumatic grief (CTG) and its correlates through a multi-site assessment of 132 bereaved children and adolescents. Youth completed a new measure of the characteristics, attributions, and reactions to exposure to death (CARED), as well as measures of CTG, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anger. CTG was distinct from but highly correlated with PTSD, depression, and, to a lesser degree, anger. In contrast to a recent study of complicated grief, CTG severity was significantly associated with the degree to which the death was viewed as traumatic. CTG was also associated with caregivers' emotional reaction at the time of the death and caregivers' current sadness. Clinical implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.
Brown
Elissa J
EJ
Marillac Hall, St. John's University, 8000 Utopia Parkway, Queens, New York 11439, USA.
Amaya-Jackson
Lisa
L
Cohen
Judith
J
Handel
Stephanie
S
Thiel De Bocanegra
Heike
H
Zatta
Eileen
E
Goodman
Robin F
RF
Mannarino
Anthony
A
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000786:Anger; D001293:Attitude to Death; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D003643:Death; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D006117:Grief; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012307:Risk Factors; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D014481:United States; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*