The Impact of Suicide on Children and Adolescents

For children and adolescents, bereavement following the suicide of someone close to them may be traumatic and very different from bereavement following other types of death. However, studies that examine children’s reactions to the suicide of a loved one compared with the nonsuicidal death of a loved one have yielded con? icting results. In this chapter, we examine what is known and unknown about the number of youth survivors as well as the recommended information that should be shared with children about suicides. Then, we examine the literature on speci? c populations of suicide-bereaved children-including parent-bereaved, sibling-bereaved, and peer-bereaved children. The chapter closes with recommendations for research that can help us better understand the experience and needs of suicide-bereaved children and their families. The term child is used interchangeably with the term youth to represent individuals under the age of 18 years. Adolescent typically is used to describe individuals aged 13-18 years, but in some research, adolescent refers to individuals aged 13-24 years.