[Parental death in childhood: the state of theoretical knowledge and clinical challenges in the future].
Although children's psychological adaptation to parental cancer is a wide field for psycho-oncological research, few empirical studies target children bereavement specifically following parental cancer. In this paper, our purpose is to make a state of art about literature concerning parental death. Literature dealing with grief concerns psychopathological consequences of parental loss and most recently post-traumatic growth. Although references about support programs have emerged, few of these programs have been scientifically evaluated. This review underlines that more studies are needed with prospective quantitative and qualitative studies, in order to describe more precisely children bereavement process and long term effects of bereavement. Psychological support for other family members and evaluation of support programs seem to be critical to improve children adaptation to parental death.
Groupe hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, service de neurologie Mazarin, 47-83, boulevard de l'Hôpital, 75013 Paris, France. Electronic address: margaux.mentec@gmail.com.
Margaux
M
Mentec
Université Paris Descartes, Institut Curie, laboratoire de psychopathologie et processus de santé EA4057, Paris, France.
Cécile
C
Flahault
D000293:Adolescent; D001601:Bereavement; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005190:Family; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D063129:Parental Death / Q000523:psychology*; D055500:Resilience, Psychological; D012307:Risk Factors
Children; Croissance post-traumatique; Enfants; Parental death; Perte d’un parent; Post-traumatic growth; Prises en charge psychologiques; Psychological support; Psychopathologie; Psychopathology