Complicated Grief in Palestinian Children and Adolescents

This study aims to identify the traumatic losses and resultant complicated grief of adolescents in occupied Palestine. A secondary analysis was conducted on a data set from 133, 11-14 year olds who had completed the Exposure to War Stressors Questionnaire, the Children’s Revised Impact of Events Scale and the Traumatic Grief Inventory for Children (TGIC). For the first time, a statistically significant cut-off was applied to the TGIC. As a consequence, the co-morbidity of complicated grief was explored with posttraumatic stress disorder and depression. Findings indicate adolescents in Nablus experienced multiple traumatic losses resulting in 20% experiencing complicated grief. Because of the strict statistical cut-off, indications are this may be an underestimate. Complicated grief presented as a distinct trauma response. Recommendations are made for future research and practice.