Complicated Grief Among Children After a Death From Cancer or Another Cause: A Longitudinal and Prospective Study (CAPS)

Toulouse University Hospital

Status: Completed

Conditions: Grief

Treatments: Behavioral: Scales, questionnaires and inventory

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03330145

RC31/15/7458

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of this study is to identify risk factors of Complicated Grief (CG) among children and adolescents who lost a parent to cancer or from an other cause.

Full description

Although the intensity of the grief and life disruption usually subsides in the months following the loss of a loved one, approximately 7% of bereaved individuals will continue to experience persistent and intense grief-related symptoms associated with marked distress and functional impairment years after the death.

While several studies aimed to evaluate risk factors of CG among adults, little is known regarding CG among children and adolescents. Therefore, prospective research directly examining the impact of bereavement on post-loss psychiatric symptoms, including CG, post-traumatic-stress disorder (PTSD), depression, attentional and behavioral avoidance among children are needed. Improving our understanding of CG risk factors among children will help direct healthcare professionals' clinical attention toward screening and care of this underserved population.

Furthermore, identifying mechanisms explaining why cancer bereaved children may be at greater risk for persistent psychological distress and CG will inform the development of preventive, early intervention and treatment strategies.

Participants will be recruited to the Child and Adolescent grief counseling of the College Hospital of Toulouse as well as with the Team Regional Resource Pediatric Palliative Care "Enfant-Do". At 3, 6 and 12 months post-loss, children and their parent will be invited to complete questionnaires assessing peritraumatic dissociative experiences, peritraumatic distress, security attachment, symptoms of CG, symptoms of PTSD and attentional avoidance.

Enrollment: 38 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 6 to 17 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Children :

• Having lost a parent within the last 3 months
• Signed consent form from the parent
• To have health care coverage by the French social security

Parents :

• Signed consent form
• Having lost mother or father of the child within the last 3 months

Exclusion criteria

Children:

• Both parents are dead
• Medical disease
• Ongoing legal procedure regarding the death

Parents :

• Decline to take part to the study
• Mental retardation or schizophrenia
• Ongoing legal procedure regarding the death

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Non-Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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38 participants in 2 patient groups

children who lost a parent to cancer

Experimental group

Description:

Children will complete scales, questionnaires and inventory at 3 months post-loss and only 2 scales at 6 and 12 month post-loss

Treatment:

Behavioral: Scales, questionnaires and inventory

children who lost a parent not to cancer

Active Comparator group

Description:

Children will complete scales, questionnaires and inventory at 3 months post-loss and only 2 scales at 6 and 12 month post-loss

Treatment:

Behavioral: Scales, questionnaires and inventory