Children's Earliest Experiences with Death: Circumstances, Conversations, Explanations, and Parental Satisfaction

Abstract

Parents (n = 140) of children 2 to 7 years responded to an online survey regarding their children's experiences and conversations about death. A total of 75% of parents indicated that they had spoken to their child about death, and the majority of conversations were first initiated when children were between 3 and 3.5 years of age. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to explore factors that could predict conversations about death. Parents (n = 88) provided narratives of the explanations of death that they gave their child and subsequently reported their level of satisfaction with their explanation. The content of the explanations was coded and examined in relation to children's age and parental satisfaction. Results revealed that parents who provided explanations to a continued existence after death reported significantly higher levels of satisfaction than those parents who discussed the absence of a future physical relationship after death. Finally, explanations of a continued existence were not always in reference to an afterlife and could include discussing the memory of the deceased or their continued impact even after death. Thus, when talking to young children about death, parents may feel greater satisfaction in finding ways to discuss the continued legacy of those who have died compared to more biological explanations.

Embracing Death: Mexican Parent and Child Perspectives on Death

“…Similar to the finding by Renaud et al (), the parents in Puebla reported that many of their children asked questions about death. Many of the questions concerned with día de los muertos focused on the meaning of various symbols related to the event.…”

Sources of children's knowledge about death and dying

“…Sixty-seven per cent of the parents reported that their children had asked questions about a death portrayed in the media, most commonly in books and films. Similarly, Renauld et al [27] found that a majority of parents they surveyed reported that their children were first exposed to death in the media. These parents also reported that their earliest conversations with children about death were most commonly about a media portrayal, followed by death of a pet and death of grandparents [27].…”

“…B 373: 20170267 these sorts of explanations. For example, Renaud et al [27] surveyed Canadian parents of 2-to 5-year-old children about their conversations about death and what these conversations included. Seventy-five percent of parents reported that they had spoken at least once to their child about death.…”

Children’s Emerging Understanding of Death

“…As children acquire more domain knowledge, their ability to ask questions improves and they ask more focused questions to fill specific knowledge gaps (Ronfard, Zambrana, Hermansen, & Kelemen, 2018). Many parents say that their children begin asking questions about death as young as age 3 (Renaud, Engarhos, Schleifer, & Talwar, 2015) and that the questions are often sparked by a recent death in the family (Bridgewater, Menendez, & Rosengren, 2019), so asking questions might also be a way children learn about death.…”