The Self-Concepts of Bereaved Adolescents

Abstract

The focus of this study was to investigate adolescent self-concept and the reactions of 42 adolescents whose siblings had died. After completing the OfferSelf-Image Questionnaire for Adolescents (OSIQ), participants were interviewed about bereavement reactions, perceptions of their personal maturity, effects on school work; and relationships with peers. The adolescents' OSIQ scores fit the results for what Offer has termed "niormal adolescents." However, cluster analysis identified three distinct groups of adolescents clustered according to high, average, and low OSIQ scores. Discriminant analhsis was used to analyze the bereavement reactions of adolescents in these clusters. Perceptions of personal maturi ty, effects on school work and relationships with peers were also examined. Implications of the results are discussed in terms of developmental tasks facing adolescents and potential interventions to assist adolescents in coping successfully with grief.