Abstract
Background and Method:There is an absence of research on the prevalence of bereavement during early childhood and the relationship between childhood bereavement and socioeconomic status (SES) and this poses a challenge in both understanding and supporting children’s bereavement experiences. Using longitudinal data from the Growing Up in Scotland study, which tracks the lives of three nationally representative cohorts of children, this paper aimed to address these gaps in research. It specifically drew on data from Birth Cohort 1 to document the recorded bereavements of 2,815 children who completed all 8 sweeps of data collection, from age 10 months to 10 years.Findings:The study found that 50.8% of all children are bereaved of a parent, sibling, grandparent or other close family member by age 8 and this rises to 62% by age 10. The most common death experienced was that of a grandparent or other close relative. The study also found that children born into the lowest income households are at greater risk of being bereaved of a parent or sibling than those born into the highest income households.Discussion and Conclusion:Given the prevalence of childhood bereavement and its relationship with disadvantage, this paper argues that there is an important need to understand bereavement as a universal issue that is affected by the social conditions in which a child becomes bereaved, as well as an individual experience potentially requiring specialist support. This paper thus seeks to position childhood bereavement more firmly within the public health approach to palliative and bereavement care discourse and contends that doing so provides a unique and comprehensive opportunity to better understand and holistically respond to the experience of bereavement during childhood.
Highlights
Bereavement during childhood is a common experience but one that is frequently associated with a range of immediate and long-term risks related to social, emotional and physical wellbeing
Bereavement and disadvantage The prevalence data show that bereavement becomes a majority experience before the age of 8 and analysis by socioeconomic status (SES) indicates that bereavement cuts across income groups, with no significant difference in income at Sweep 1 between those who had been bereaved and those who had not (Table 3)
This article is the first published study of the prevalence of childhood bereavement in Scotland, drawing upon a large, nationally representative sample and collating children’s bereavement experiences from 10 months until approximately 10 years. It is the first large-scale prevalence study undertaken in the United Kingdom for more than 15 years and, unlike other published studies,[2,45] it draws upon detailed longitudinal data in which the timing and extent of bereavement can be ascertained
Summary
Bereavement during childhood is a common experience but one that is frequently associated with a range of immediate and long-term risks related to social, emotional and physical wellbeing. Using longitudinal data from the Growing Up in Scotland study, which tracks the lives of three nationally representative cohorts of children, this paper aimed to address these gaps in research. It drew on data from Birth Cohort 1 to document the recorded bereavements of 2,815 children who completed all 8 sweeps of data collection, from age 10 months to 10 years. Discussion and Conclusion: Given the prevalence of childhood bereavement and its relationship with disadvantage, this paper argues that there is an important need to understand bereavement as a universal issue that is affected by the social conditions in which a child becomes bereaved, as well as an individual experience potentially requiring specialist support. This paper seeks to position childhood bereavement more firmly within the public health approach to palliative and bereavement care discourse and contends that doing so provides a unique and comprehensive opportunity to better understand and holistically respond to the experience of bereavement during childhood
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