Bereavement in Childhood and Depressive Psychosis

Abstract

There have been many reports of the high incidence of early parental loss among groups of patients suffering from various psycho-pathological disorders. Bowlby (1951) cited numerous relevant studies in his influential monograph, and Gregory (1958) has critically reviewed a dozen others. More recently Brown (1961) reported a significantly higher incidence of parental loss in childhood among depressed patients than among the general population, and Beck et al. (1963) found that the incidence among highly depressed psychiatric patients was higher than among non-depressed patients. Both these writers aver that their findings provide evidence that parental loss in childhood is a significant factor in the development of a depressive illness in adult life.