PEDIATRICS Vol. 78 No. 3 September 1986, pp. 485-487
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow P3Rs: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when P3Rs are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Burns, E. A.
Right arrow Articles by Ankenbauer, M. R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Burns, E. A.
Right arrow Articles by Ankenbauer, M. R.

Sibling Grief in Reaction to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

Elizabeth A. Burns MD1, J. Daniel House PhD1, and Mary R. Ankenbauer MD1

1 From the Department of Family Practice, University of Iowa College of Medicine, Iowa City

Much of the literature that exists regarding psychologic outcomes of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) has focused on parental grief or family response; at least two studies suggest that a SIDS death also affected siblings. It is believed that children who experience the death of a sibling due to SIDS do grieve. Factors related to bereavement are the child's age at the time of the sibling's death, special circumstances of the SIDS death, and explanations and grieving response of the parents. However, no information currently exists that characterizes the course of the grief response of these children. Studies have indicated that about 1 year is a normal grieving period for adults. This study was conducted to evaluate the time frame of children's grief response to the death of a sibling from SIDS. A questionnaire was designed that incorporated child grieving behaviors from several sources; 151 questionnaires were distributed to families in which a SIDS death had occurred in the past 16 years in Iowa and Illinois. Information was obtained from 43 families for 50 children who were older than 2 years of age at the time of the sibling's death. With respect to the length of children's grief response, 54% were reported to have grieved longer than 1 year and only 40% were reported to have grieved less than 6 months. Thus, it appears that the length of the grieving response for these children is similar to that described for adults.

Key Words: sudden infant death syndrome • sibling death • bereavement • grief reaction

Accepted on November 15, 1985




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Psychosom. Med.Home page
F.-J. Shih, M.-K. Lai, M.-H. Lin, H.-Y. Lin, C.-I Tsao, L.-L. Chou, and S.-H. Chu
Impact of Cadaveric Organ Donation on Taiwanese Donor Families During the First 6 Months After Donation
Psychosom Med, January 1, 2001; 63(1): 69 - 78.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]