TY - JOUR
T1 - Quality of Social Relationships and the Development of Depression in Parentally-Bereaved Youth
AU - Schoenfelder, Erin N.
AU - Sandler, Irwin
AU - Wolchik, Sharlene
AU - Mackinnon, David
N1 - Funding Information:
Sharlene Wolchik is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Arizona State University. She completed her psychology doctoral training at Rutgers University. Dr. Wolchik has been a leader in the field of children’s response to parental divorce for the past 25 years. Her research has examined factors that affect resilience in children who face the family transitions of parental divorce or parental bereavement. In addition, she has developed and evaluated preventive interventions for children from divorced families and parentally-bereaved youth. She has been awarded numerous federal grants from National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute of Child Development. She recently received the Stanley Cohen Distinguished Research Award from the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts for her work in divorce.
Funding Information:
Support for this research was provided by the National Institute of Mental Health Grant R01 MH49155 for the 6-year follow-up of the Family Bereavement Program and Grant T32 MH19397 to support prevention research training.
Funding Information:
Irwin Sandler is a Regents’ Professor in the Department of Psychology and Director of the Prevention Research Center for Families in Stress at Arizona State University. He has been the Director of an NIMH supported Preventive Research Center, and the recipient of multiple grants from the NIMH to study resilience for children in stress and to develop and evaluate preventive interventions for these children and their families. He has been a consultant to the NIMH, NIDA, CMHS and various private foundations on prevention research. He has been the president of the Society for Community Research and Action (Div. 27 of APA), Chair of the Council of Community Psychology Program Directors, and has been on the board of directors of the Society for Prevention Research. He has received numerous awards for his work including the Distinguished Contribution to Theory and Research in Community Psychology. His research has focused mainly on children who experience parental divorce and the death of a parent and has emphasized linking theory and research about sources of resilience with the design and evaluation of preventive interventions.
PY - 2011/1
Y1 - 2011/1
N2 - Fear of abandonment has been found to be associated with mental health problems for youth who have experienced a parent's death. This article examines how youth's fears of abandonment following the death of a parent lead to later depressive symptoms by influencing relationships with caregivers, peers, and romantic partners. Participants were 109 youth ages 7-16 (50% male), assessed 4 times over a 6-year period. The ethnic composition of the sample was non-Hispanic Caucasian (67%), Hispanic (16%), African American (7%), Native American (3%), Asian (1%), and Other (6%). Youth's fears of abandonment by their surviving caregiver during the first year of data collection were related to their anxiety in romantic relationships 6 years later, which, in turn, was associated with depressive symptoms measured at 6 years. Youth's caregiver, peer, and romantic relationships at the 6-year follow-up were related to their concurrent depressive symptoms. The relationship between youth's attachment to their surviving caregiver and their depressive symptoms was stronger for younger participants. Implications of these findings for understanding the development of mental health problems following parental bereavement are discussed.
AB - Fear of abandonment has been found to be associated with mental health problems for youth who have experienced a parent's death. This article examines how youth's fears of abandonment following the death of a parent lead to later depressive symptoms by influencing relationships with caregivers, peers, and romantic partners. Participants were 109 youth ages 7-16 (50% male), assessed 4 times over a 6-year period. The ethnic composition of the sample was non-Hispanic Caucasian (67%), Hispanic (16%), African American (7%), Native American (3%), Asian (1%), and Other (6%). Youth's fears of abandonment by their surviving caregiver during the first year of data collection were related to their anxiety in romantic relationships 6 years later, which, in turn, was associated with depressive symptoms measured at 6 years. Youth's caregiver, peer, and romantic relationships at the 6-year follow-up were related to their concurrent depressive symptoms. The relationship between youth's attachment to their surviving caregiver and their depressive symptoms was stronger for younger participants. Implications of these findings for understanding the development of mental health problems following parental bereavement are discussed.
KW - Attachment
KW - Bereavement
KW - Depression
KW - Romantic relationships
KW - Social competence
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U2 - 10.1007/s10964-009-9503-z
DO - 10.1007/s10964-009-9503-z
M3 - Article
C2 - 20119668
AN - SCOPUS:78650509605
SN - 0047-2891
VL - 40
SP - 85
EP - 96
JO - Journal of youth and adolescence
JF - Journal of youth and adolescence
IS - 1
ER -