Death anxiety and personal growth in adolescents experiencing the death of a grandparent.

Relationships between bereavement following the death of a grandparent and adolescent death anxiety levels were examined using Hogan's Inventory of Bereavement and the revised Death Anxiety Scale within private schools. Of the 226 adolescent respondents (aged 11-18) who completed questionnaires, 124 had experienced the death of a grandparent. The regression model indicated that grief due to bereavement was found to be significantly associated with death anxiety. The factors of personal growth, gender, time since death, and numbers of deaths experienced were not found to be significant predictors within the model. The findings encourage further exploration into the nature of the grandparent-adolescent relationship as well as the impact of type of death experienced.