Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Jan;72(1):156-159.
doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2022.08.021. Epub 2022 Oct 11.

Spatio-Temporal Clustering of Adolescent Bereavement in the United States During the Extended Response to COVID-19: A Follow-Up Study

Sophia C Ryan  1 , Jennifer D Runkle  2 , Margaret M Sugg  3 , Devyani Singh  4 , Shannon Green  4 , Luke Wertis  3
Affiliations

Spatio-Temporal Clustering of Adolescent Bereavement in the United States During the Extended Response to COVID-19: A Follow-Up Study

Sophia C Ryan et al. J Adolesc Health. 2023 Jan.

Abstract

Purpose: This follow-up study investigated the spatio-temporal clustering of adolescent bereavement during the extended response to COVID-19 from October 2020-January 2022 in the continental United States.

Methods: Deidentified and anonymized bereavement data from Crisis Text Line (CTL), a text-based crisis intervention service, and SaTScan cluster analysis were used to identify space-time clustering of bereavement among adolescents, aged 24 years and less, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Results: Clustering of bereavement conversations occurred during waves of high COVID-19 case and death counts, with the highest risk occurring in the Southeastern United States during the fall of 2020 (relative risk: 5.86, confidence interval: 3.48-8.24). Of the CTL texters who shared their demographic information, Indigenous American, Black, male, and female adolescents were more likely to seek help for bereavement when compared to the other CTL users.

Discussion: Findings show an increased need for bereavement counseling resources during periods of high COVID-19 cases and deaths.

Keywords: Bereavement; COVID-19; Cluster analysis; Crisis response; Digital interventions; Grief; Mental health; SaTScan.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Significant spatial and temporal adolescent bereavement clustering for the continental United States from October 2020 through January 2022. Clusters are adjusted for age, race, and gender. Relative risk (RR) values > 1 = higher risk, RR < 1 = lower risk. Note: * indicates p value < .05.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Stroebe M, Schut H. Bereavement in times of COVID-19: A Review and Theoretical Framework. Omega (Westport) 2021;82:500–22. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Eisma MC, Tamminga A. Grief before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: Multiple Group Comparisons. J Pain Symptom Manage 2020;60:e1–4. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Weinstock L, Dunda D, Harrington H, Nelson H. It’s complicated–adolescent grief in the time of Covid-19. Front Psychiatry 2021;12. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Maddrell A. Bereavement, grief, and consolation: Emotional-affective geographies of loss during COVID-19. Dialogues Hum Geogr 2020;10: 107–11.
    1. CDC. COVID data Tracker. Centers for disease Control and Prevention. 2020. Available at: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker. Accessed March 29, 2022.

Publication types