Children's Conceptions of Death and Personal Mortality

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Children's conceptions of death and personal mortality were studied in relation to age, cognitive developmental factors, and life experiences with death or separation/divorce. Sixty children, ranging in age from 5 to 10 years, participated in the study. Children who had experienced the death of a significant other (parent, sibling, close relation, or peer) were compared on a variety of measures to children who had experienced parental separation or divorce, and to children from intact two-parent families with no experience of death or separation/divorce. The results indicated that most children who were 6 years of age or older possessed some belief in the universality of death. A child's understanding of personal mortality was related both to the level of cognitive development and to death-related experience. Children did not differ systematically on measures of personality or adjustment. The theoretical and applied significance of the results is discussed.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: