Long-term effects of the family bereavement program on multiple indicators of grief in parentally bereaved children and adolescents.
OBJECTIVE
This article reports on results from a randomized experimental trial of the effects of the Family Bereavement Program (FBP) on multiple measures of grief experienced by parentally bereaved children and adolescents over a 6-year period.


METHODS
Participants were 244 youths (ages 8-16, mean age = 11.4 years) from 156 families that had experienced the death of a parent. The sample consisted of 53% boys and 47% girls; ethnicity was 67% non-Hispanic White and 33% ethnic minority. Families were randomly assigned to the FBP (N = 135) or a literature control condition (N = 109). Two grief measures, the Texas Revised Inventory of Grief and the Intrusive Grief Thoughts Scale (IGTS) were administered at 4 times over 6 years: pretest, posttest, and 11-month and 6-year follow-ups. A 3rd measure, an adaptation of the Inventory of Traumatic Grief (ITG) was administered only at the 6-year follow-up.


RESULTS
Compared with the control group, the FBP group showed a greater reduction in their level of problematic grief (IGTS) at posttest and 6-year follow-up and in the percentage at clinical levels of problematic grief at the posttest. The FBP also reduced scores on a dimension of the ITG, Social Detachment/Insecurity, at 6-year follow-up for 3 subgroups: those who experienced lower levels of grief at program entry, older youths, and boys.


CONCLUSIONS
These are the first findings from a randomized trial with long-term follow-up of the effects of a program to reduce problematic levels of grief of parentally bereaved youths.
Sandler
Irwin N
IN
Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-6005, USA. Irwin.sandler@asu.edu
Ma
Yue
Y
Tein
Jenn-Yun
JY
Ayers
Tim S
TS
Wolchik
Sharlene
S
Kennedy
Cara
C
Millsap
Roger
R
D000293:Adolescent; D001601:Bereavement; D002648:Child; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016730:Program Development; D012737:Sex Factors; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D013997:Time Factors