A qualitative analysis of psychologists' views of bereavement among children with intellectual disability in Ireland. (2nd August 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: McClean, Katie; Guerin, Suzanne
• Is Part Of: British journal of learning disabilities. Volume 47:Number 4(2019:Dec.)
• Page Start: 247
• Page End: 254
• Publication Date: 2019-08-02
• Subjects: bereavement -- children -- grief -- intellectual disability -- psychologists; Learning disabilities -- Periodicals; Learning disabled -- Periodicals; Learning disabled children -- Periodicals; Learning disabled youth -- Periodicals; 362.3
• DOI: 10.1111/bld.12284
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1354-4187

Abstract

Abstract : Accessible Summary: Twelve psychologists were asked about supporting children with intellectual disabilities when a member of their family dies. Psychologists said that these children were often left out when a family member dies. Explanations of what had happened were often vague. People often try to protect children with intellectual disabilities by not upsetting them. Children with intellectual disabilities often express their sadness using challenging behaviours or by going quiet. The psychologists worked mainly with the parents of the child. The psychologists wanted to see more education on emotions for children with intellectual disabilities. Abstract: Background: The present study investigated psychologists' views of the experience of death and bereavement among children with intellectual disabilities. Materials and Methods: Twelve psychologists with experience of working with children with intellectual disabilities (Educational = 2, Clinical = 8, and Behavioural analysts = 2; average years of experience = 24 years, SD = 10.4) completed semi‐structured interviews and thematic analysis was conducted on the data. Results: The results indicated that psychologists were in favour of concrete and factual explanations of death for children with intellectual disabilities, as opposed to metaphorical or vague explanations. Psychologists reported that intellectual disability did not prevent the child from experiencing grief, but did impact their expression of grief. The challenges identified by psychologists included overcoming assumptions about the capabilities of a child with intellectual disability to understand and experience grief, enabling and encouraging families to includethe child in the bereavement process. Finally, the psychologists emphasised the need to normalise grief and make it part of life. Conclusion: This study benefitted from a sample rich in relevant experience and from the rigorous process of thematic analysis. However, this project can only be considered a proxy study as there is no way to be certain the views of the psychologists actually reflect the experiences of grieving children. This is an area for further research.