Grief Communication: Exploring Disclosure and Avoidance Across the Developmental Spectrum

Communicating about the death of a close other is an important, yet understudied process, particularly amongst children, adolescents, and young adults. Guided by the tenets of the Dual Process Model of Coping with Bereavement (DPM; Stroebe & Schut, 1999), inductive analyses of 48 in-person, in-depth interviews (12 youth and 36 young adults) suggested that participants did disclose, avoid, and oscillate when coping. In addition, four prominent themes emerged within the participants’ narratives: (a) stigmatic death, (b) religiosity, (c) social support satisfaction, and (d) role model enactment. The results suggested several directions for future research and interventions focused on communication in child-centered, death-related grief.