IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i24p9356-d461943.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

“It Changes Your Orbit”: The Impact of Suicide and Traumatic Death on Adolescents as Experienced by Adolescents and Parents

Author

Listed:
  • Karl Andriessen

    (Centre for Mental Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia)

  • Karolina Krysinska

    (Centre for Mental Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia)

  • Debra Rickwood

    (Faculty of Health, University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT 2617, Australia)

  • Jane Pirkis

    (Centre for Mental Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia)

Abstract

Background: Having someone close die through suicide or another form of traumatic death is a distressing event in the lives of adolescents, putting them at risk of grief and mental health ramifications. As most research in this field has been focused on intrapersonal grief reactions, this study aimed to broaden the perspective by exploring the impact of the death through an interpersonal lens. Methods: The study involved individual and group interviews with bereaved adolescents ( n = 20) and parents of bereaved adolescents ( n = 18), and thematic analysis of the data. Results: The analysis yielded three themes: (i) the death is a life-changing experience, (ii) the death differentiates you from your peers, and (iii) the death impacts on the family system. Conclusions: The study revealed the devastating impact of the deaths on adolescents, their relationships with peers and the family system. Adolescents’ grief must be understood within the context of their agency and their immediate social environment. The findings clearly indicate that support for bereaved adolescents should incorporate the familial context.

Suggested Citation

  • Karl Andriessen & Karolina Krysinska & Debra Rickwood & Jane Pirkis, 2020. "“It Changes Your Orbit”: The Impact of Suicide and Traumatic Death on Adolescents as Experienced by Adolescents and Parents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-18, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:24:p:9356-:d:461943
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/24/9356/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/24/9356/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jessica Eng & Lauren Drabwell & Fiona Stevenson & Michael King & David Osborn & Alexandra Pitman, 2019. "Use of Alcohol and Unprescribed Drugs after Suicide Bereavement: Qualitative Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-12, October.
    2. Hollingshaus, Michael S. & Smith, Ken R., 2015. "Life and death in the family: Early parental death, parental remarriage, and offspring suicide risk in adulthood," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 181-189.
    3. Karolina Krysinska & Sophie Curtis & Michelle Lamblin & Nina Stefanac & Kerry Gibson & Sadhbh Byrne & Pinar Thorn & Simon M. Rice & Alison McRoberts & Anne Ferrey & Yael Perry & Ashleigh Lin & Sarah H, 2020. "Parents’ Experience and Psychoeducation Needs When Supporting a Young Person Who Self-Harms," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-15, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Karl Andriessen & Karolina Krysinska & Debra Rickwood & Jane Pirkis, 2022. "The Reactions of Adolescents, Parents and Clinicians to Participating in Qualitative Research Interviews Regarding Adolescents Bereaved by Suicide and Other Traumatic Death," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-13, January.
    2. Alison Clements & Angela Nicholas & Karen E Martin & Susan Young, 2022. "Towards an Evidence-Based Model of Workplace Postvention," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-17, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Matthias Rosenbaum-Feldbrügge, 2019. "The Impact of Parental Death in Childhood on Sons’ and Daughters’ Status Attainment in Young Adulthood in the Netherlands, 1850–1952," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(5), pages 1827-1854, October.
    2. Pilar Andrés-Olivera & Judit García-Aparicio & María Teresa Lozano López & José Antonio Benito Sánchez & Carmen Martín & Ana Maciá-Casas & Armando González-Sánchez & Miguel Marcos & Carlos Roncero, 2022. "Impact on Sleep Quality, Mood, Anxiety, and Personal Satisfaction of Doctors Assigned to COVID-19 Units," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-15, February.
    3. Demee Rheinberger & Fiona Shand & Lauren McGillivray & Sonia McCallum & Katherine Boydell, 2023. "Parents of Adolescents Who Experience Suicidal Phenomena—A Scoping Review of Their Experience," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(13), pages 1-17, June.
    4. Berg, Mark T. & Simons, Ronald L. & Barr, Ashley & Beach, Steven R.H. & Philibert, Robert A., 2017. "Childhood/Adolescent stressors and allostatic load in adulthood: Support for a calibration model," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 130-139.
    5. Lauren Drabwell & Jessica Eng & Fiona Stevenson & Michael King & David Osborn & Alexandra Pitman, 2020. "Perceptions of the Use of Alcohol and Drugs after Sudden Bereavement by Unnatural Causes: Analysis of Online Qualitative Data," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-16, January.
    6. Corinne Peek-Asa & Ling Zhang & Cara Hamann & Jonathan Davis & Laura Schwab-Reese, 2021. "Characteristics and Circumstances Associated with Work-Related Suicides from the National Violent Death Reporting System, 2013–2017," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-12, September.
    7. Michelle L. Townsend & Caitlin E. Miller & Emily L. Matthews & Brin F. S. Grenyer, 2021. "Parental Response Style to Adolescent Self-Harm: Psychological, Social and Functional Impacts," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-17, December.
    8. Chinwah, Viviane & Nyame-Asiamah, Frank & Ekanem, Ignatius, 2020. "Risk factors affecting maternal health outcomes in Rivers State of Nigeria: Towards the PRISMA model," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).
    9. Alexandra Pitman & Fiona Stevenson & David Osborn, 2022. "Investigating Whether Bereavement by Suicide and Other Unnatural Causes Has a Deterrent Effect on Alcohol or Drug Use in Young Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-11, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:24:p:9356-:d:461943. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.