Compared perceptions of 19 bereaved spouses with those of 47 bereaved adult children. Differences between groups were found in appraised difficulty of the death, number of peripheral sources of support, and assistance from friends and neighbors. Spouses suffered more negative side effects than adult children in reported health and emotional…

Examined grief reactions of 36 parents and 28 grandparents within same family to death of child. Both groups reported subjectively experiencing affective changes. Most parents mentioned feeling or acting differently toward surviving children; only one-third of grandparents noted differences toward grandchildren. Parents' reactions focused on…

Investigates the differential emotional and coping responses of 41 older and 48 younger respondents who had recently lost a loved one to death. Results show that older respondents confided more in close others and reported more account-making (storylike constructions) than did younger respondents, helping them adapt more readily to major loss.…

Examines the comparative prevalence of grief reactions, behavioral symptoms, and pathological bereavement in 25 kibbutz and 21 non-kibbutz children between 3 1/2 and 11 1/2 years of age. Findings indicated that, for a large proportion of the children, loss of the father becomes a traumatic situation influencing functioning and causing behavioral…

Examined social support following loss of a peer, grandparent, or other person among adolescents 17 to 20 years old. Found that 70.6 percent had experienced loss, and 43.5 percent had experienced peer loss. Participants rated peers and parents as the most helpful supports. Comparisons of loss were difficult because few participants had lost a…

Investigates the effects of a support group for middle school parentally bereaved children on self-esteem, depression, and problem behavior as well as self-beliefs about abilities to cope with loss. Solomon four group design was used with data analysis by using two way analysis of variance to determine the effect of intervention. No statistically…

Examined five bereavement support groups, three of which focused on widows, family survivors of suicide, and family survivors of death of family member by cancer. Members of three groups tended to report strong satisfaction with group experience. Reasons for joining group and most valuable aspects of group experience varied as function of group…