Kidman and co-authors estimated the expected number of affected children for each Covid-19 death, also known as the parental mourning multiplier.
The model suggests that each Covid-19 death leaves 0.078 children aged 0 to 17 bereaved by their parents, representing an increase of 17.5% to 20.2% in Covid-19’s absent parental mourning.
They point out that, although the mourning multiplier is small, it translates into a large number of children who have lost their parents.
“In February 2021, 37,300 children aged 0 to 17 years lost at least one parent due to Covid-19, three-quarters of whom were teenagers,” says the survey letter.
When the authors considered the deaths in excess, they estimated that 43,000 children lost a parent and looking at a natural herd immunity strategy that resulted in 1.5 million deaths “demonstrates the potential effect of inaction: 116,900 children bereaved by their parents “.
The authors note that the estimates are based on modeling, not research or administrative data, and do not include mourning for primary non-parental caregivers. The study also does not quantify the number of children who have lost more than their parents.
Kidman and co-authors suggest that “comprehensive national reforms” are needed to deal with the consequences of the pandemic that will affect children. Children who have lost a parent will also need targeted support to assist in grieving. The establishment of a national child mourning cohort can also help to identify children who have lost a parent and monitor them to identify emerging challenges early. It would also make it easier to link these children to the local support systems they need and form the basis of a study on the long-term effects of losing a parent during the pandemic.
A difficult loss to suffer
Losing a parent can have a lasting effect.
They found that there was an increased incidence of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder among those who lost a parent. Depression occurred mainly in the first two years after the loss and in people aged 12 and under. They also found increased rates of clinically significant suicidal ideation in children who lost their parents.
Traumatic childhood grief is when the cause of death can be seen as something horrible or terrifying, making it more difficult for children to grieve themselves, as they cannot understand how the death happened.
Gurwitch also said that Covid’s large number of deaths makes things more challenging, as well as the fact that the pandemic is still going on.
“God forbid, the parents of a child died of a heart attack – it’s not that heart attacks don’t keep happening, but they’re not in the news every day, they’re not in the store every day, they’re not every day related to making decisions about whether I can see my friends, go back to school or go to a funeral, “said Gurwitch. “Covid has changed that. Normal activities related to death cannot happen, so a child who has lost someone now, no matter what the circumstances, but mainly due to Covid, makes everything a lot more challenging because all the things I would normally do do, I can’t do it, the family can’t do it. ”
Gurtwich said that children need to be able to talk about their loss, find ways to remember the father who died and receive support and encouragement to speak openly about their loss. She also said that treatments for traumatic childhood grief are available for children who need them. Many experts recommend consistent psychotherapy for grief. If necessary, medications to treat depression or anxiety can also help.
“We have to make sure that there are certain supports so that children know well about the loss, the grief, the death,” she said. “We have to be able to talk about it, we have to be able to help them find ways to remember the person who died. And we have to make sure to keep these lines of communication open.”