(PS4-C64) Comparing Delivery Formats of Interventions for Childhood Grief: A Scoping Review

The death of a parent is a highly stressful and often traumatic event for a child, which can lead to adverse emotional and physical health outcomes in both the short- and long-term (Luecken, 2008). Indeed, bereaved children are at increased risk of several negative consequences throughout their life, such as academic underachievement, behavioural issues, and mood disturbances (Bussemakers et al., 2022; Debiasi et al., 2021; Lytje & Dyregrov, 2019). Various psychological interventions that seek to mitigate the adverse effects of parental loss have been developed to address these negative outcomes. These interventions are typically delivered in one of three settings: individual, group, or within families. All three formats have theoretical merit; in an individual setting, a child can address personal feelings about their loss; in a group setting, a child can interact with others of similar age to feel heard and included; and in a family-based setting, structural issues can be addressed to strengthen family bonds (Dyregrov et al., 2020). Despite the theoretical value of each format, there is a lack of research comparing the effectiveness of different delivery formats in improving outcomes for bereaved children. Therefore, this scoping review aims to determine whether there are differences in outcomes between individual, family, or group formats with respect to childhood grief interventions.

This scoping review involved collecting and reviewing studies from several scholarly databases (e.g., PsycInfo, MEDLINE) conducted between January 2010 and November 2022. To be included, the studies had to consist of a sample of children under 18 years old who lost a parent and had to include a quantitative evaluation of a bereavement intervention. Initially, 578 articles were identified, but only 25 studies met our full inclusion criteria after screening. The analysis is currently underway.

Finally, in addition to providing an assessment of the state of the literature, there are several clinical implications for this scoping review. First, clinicians (and other service providers who work with bereaved children) can use this information to determine which intervention type may be most effective for a particular outcome (e.g., improving emotional functioning or increasing social support) in bereaved children. Additionally, this scoping review can inform the development of interventions that combine different delivery formats to improve specific outcomes for bereaved children. Finally, it may be helpful to determine which format is most effective, which would allow for the government, private organizations, and affected families to better understand how to allocate their resources.