Related Experiment Videos
Studies in childhood bereavement
Insights
This study explored how parental death impacts child development and personality. Findings offer clinicians insights for supporting children and families through bereavement.
Area of Science:
- Child Psychology
- Psychoanalysis
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- Parental death significantly impacts child development.
- Bereavement affects children across diverse backgrounds and developmental stages.
- Understanding childhood grief is crucial for therapeutic intervention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To understand the effects of parental bereavement on child personality.
- To develop techniques for assisting children and families coping with loss.
- To identify prophylactic measures to prevent pathological grief resolutions.
Main Methods:
- Psychoanalytic study of 23 children experiencing parental death.
- Longitudinal individual psychoanalytic treatment (5 times weekly).
- Comparative analysis of diverse patient data.
Main Results:
- Parental loss significantly affects personality development.
- Effective therapeutic techniques were identified for bereaved children.
- Prophylactic strategies were developed to mitigate adverse outcomes.
Conclusions:
- Clinicians can utilize findings for assessing and supporting bereaved children.
- Early intervention and tailored therapeutic approaches are vital.
- Understanding the nuances of childhood grief aids in promoting healthy adaptation.
Abstract:
A group of child psychoanalysts, associated with the Cleveland Center for Research in Child Development and the Hanna Perkins Therapeutic Nursery School and Kindergarten, studied 23 children who had lost a parent through death. These children varied greatly in socio-economic, religious, racial and ethnic background and had suffered bereavement at different points in their development, as early as a few weeks old and as late as 13 years of age. The majority were in individual psychoanalytic treatment, seen 5 times weekly over several years. Some were treated by way of the parent while attending the Hanna Perkins Therapeutic School. The research group compared and discussed the multitude of data with a view to understanding mourning and the effects of bereavement on the personality, with a view to developing techniques in assisting children and families cope with the stress, and with a view to developing some prophylactic measures to minimize pathological resolutions. The results of the research were published in "A Child's Parent Dies" (1). This paper focuses on sharing those findings which might be helpful to the clinician in the assessment of bereaved patients and in assisting them and their families in the crucial period of parental loss or shortly following it.