title: Caregivers' estimations of their children's perceptions of death as a biological concept.
abstract: Communication about death is often a sensitive topic in families with children. The present studied compared answers of 141 school children aged 5-7 to questions about death, and their caregivers' predictions. Children were interviewed, and caregivers answered on paper, questions on inevitability, applicability, irreversibility, cessation, causation, and personal mortality. For causation, cessation, and irreversibility, children were significantly more correct than caregivers expected, and girls were more correct on applicability. Communicating with children about death may not always be as caregivers expect.
authors: Department of Health Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. e.gaab@auckland.ac.nz
authors: Erin M
authors: EM
authors: Gaab
authors: Department of Health Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
authors: Glynn R
authors: GR
authors: Owens
authors: School of Population Health, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
authors: Roderick D
authors: RD
authors: MacLeod
mesh_terms: D001293:Attitude to Death; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D010465:Perception