Very Young Child Survivors’ Perceptions of Their Father’s Suicide: Exploring Bibliotherapy as Postvention Support

Each year in the United States, 7000 to 30,000 children experience their parent’s suicide. Due to the stigma associated with suicide, feelings of guilt, and intense grief, surviving family members avoid talking about suicide. Over time, children struggle with confusion and intense emotions associate...

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Autores principales:	Cortland Watson, Elizabeth A. Cutrer-Párraga, Melissa Heath, Erica E. Miller, Terrell A. Young, Suzanne Wilson
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	father’s suicide child survivor suicide prevention grief bibliotherapy communication Medicine R
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/7f4401e0ba40458ca4f1fe31e6efbf93
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:7f4401e0ba40458ca4f1fe31e6efbf932021-11-11T16:30:13ZVery Young Child Survivors’ Perceptions of Their Father’s Suicide: Exploring Bibliotherapy as Postvention Support10.3390/ijerph1821113841660-46011661-7827https://doaj.org/article/7f4401e0ba40458ca4f1fe31e6efbf932021-10-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/21/11384https://doaj.org/toc/1661-7827https://doaj.org/toc/1660-4601Each year in the United States, 7000 to 30,000 children experience their parent’s suicide. Due to the stigma associated with suicide, feelings of guilt, and intense grief, surviving family members avoid talking about suicide. Over time, children struggle with confusion and intense emotions associated with their parent’s suicide. In this study, seven adults, who reported being younger than six years old at the time of their father’s suicide, participated in individual semi-structured interviews. Participants’ responses highlight the challenges that young children face due to limited memories of their deceased parent. Interviews concluded with an opportunity for participants to review and express their impressions of 10 children’s picture books. Participants offered impressions about how these books may or may not be helpful in supporting young child survivors. Implications for applied practice include considering how children’s literature may open communication and assist children in navigating Worden’s tasks of grief: (a) accepting the reality of their parent’s death; (b) facing the grief and pain; (c) adapting to life changes due to their father’s suicide, in particular adapting to altered family relationships; and (d) building memories of the deceased loved one, when possible, to ensure healthy attachment to the deceased parent. Participants’ insights provide considerations for selecting children’s literature for bibliotherapy. Due to young child survivors’ increased risk for attempting and completing suicide, supporting child survivors of parent suicide not only addresses postvention needs but aligns with suicide prevention.Cortland WatsonElizabeth A. Cutrer-PárragaMelissa HeathErica E. MillerTerrell A. YoungSuzanne WilsonMDPI AGarticlefather’s suicidechild survivorsuicide preventiongriefbibliotherapycommunicationMedicineRENInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Vol 18, Iss 11384, p 11384 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	father’s suicide child survivor suicide prevention grief bibliotherapy communication Medicine R
spellingShingle	father’s suicide child survivor suicide prevention grief bibliotherapy communication Medicine R Cortland Watson Elizabeth A. Cutrer-Párraga Melissa Heath Erica E. Miller Terrell A. Young Suzanne Wilson Very Young Child Survivors’ Perceptions of Their Father’s Suicide: Exploring Bibliotherapy as Postvention Support
description	Each year in the United States, 7000 to 30,000 children experience their parent’s suicide. Due to the stigma associated with suicide, feelings of guilt, and intense grief, surviving family members avoid talking about suicide. Over time, children struggle with confusion and intense emotions associated with their parent’s suicide. In this study, seven adults, who reported being younger than six years old at the time of their father’s suicide, participated in individual semi-structured interviews. Participants’ responses highlight the challenges that young children face due to limited memories of their deceased parent. Interviews concluded with an opportunity for participants to review and express their impressions of 10 children’s picture books. Participants offered impressions about how these books may or may not be helpful in supporting young child survivors. Implications for applied practice include considering how children’s literature may open communication and assist children in navigating Worden’s tasks of grief: (a) accepting the reality of their parent’s death; (b) facing the grief and pain; (c) adapting to life changes due to their father’s suicide, in particular adapting to altered family relationships; and (d) building memories of the deceased loved one, when possible, to ensure healthy attachment to the deceased parent. Participants’ insights provide considerations for selecting children’s literature for bibliotherapy. Due to young child survivors’ increased risk for attempting and completing suicide, supporting child survivors of parent suicide not only addresses postvention needs but aligns with suicide prevention.
format	article
author	Cortland Watson Elizabeth A. Cutrer-Párraga Melissa Heath Erica E. Miller Terrell A. Young Suzanne Wilson
author_facet	Cortland Watson Elizabeth A. Cutrer-Párraga Melissa Heath Erica E. Miller Terrell A. Young Suzanne Wilson
author_sort	Cortland Watson
title	Very Young Child Survivors’ Perceptions of Their Father’s Suicide: Exploring Bibliotherapy as Postvention Support
title_short	Very Young Child Survivors’ Perceptions of Their Father’s Suicide: Exploring Bibliotherapy as Postvention Support
title_full	Very Young Child Survivors’ Perceptions of Their Father’s Suicide: Exploring Bibliotherapy as Postvention Support
title_fullStr	Very Young Child Survivors’ Perceptions of Their Father’s Suicide: Exploring Bibliotherapy as Postvention Support
title_full_unstemmed	Very Young Child Survivors’ Perceptions of Their Father’s Suicide: Exploring Bibliotherapy as Postvention Support
title_sort	very young child survivors’ perceptions of their father’s suicide: exploring bibliotherapy as postvention support
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/7f4401e0ba40458ca4f1fe31e6efbf93
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Very Young Child Survivors’ Perceptions of Their Father’s Suicide: Exploring Bibliotherapy as Postvention Support

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