Maladaptive grief is an intense form of grief disorder that causes crippling thoughts and destructive behaviors (Alvis, Zhang, Sandler, & Kaplow, 2022). This level of grief can impact any family member after a significant loss, such as a person's spouse, parent, or child. With children and adolescents, it is important their parent or guardian are involved in their grieving process.
Research suggests that caregivers who establish an environment for children and adolescents to feel safe and open decreased their feelings of loneliness and promoted emotional regulation (Alvis et al., 2022). To establish this environment, parents and guardians should do the following:
1. Establish an ongoing connection with the child(ren)
2. Display a continuous supportive approach with communication
3. Express personal grief with child(ren)
4. Avoid suppressing or dismissing grief related emotions and statements
The American Academy of Pediatric (AAP) provides a resilience curriculum to help parents and families to understand, communicate, and manage grief symptoms. For more information, visit https://www.aap.org/en/pedialink/resilience-curriculum-resilience-in-the-face-of-grief-and-loss/
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