Complicated grief and caregiving correlates among bereaved adolescent girls in South Africa.

To our knowledge, this is the first study to document correlates of complicated grief among bereaved adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa. Participants included 339 female adolescents in South Africa who experienced the loss of a loved one at least six months prior to the survey; their primary caregivers were also surveyed. One-fifth of adolescents were classified as having complicated grief using the Inventory of Complicated Grief Revised for Children in conjunction with grief-induced functional impairment. The loss of a biological parent, the primary caregiver's level of grief, and economic stressors since the loss were associated with increased odds of complicated grief among adolescents. Adolescents' age, residential changes, time since the loss, multiple losses, bereavement due to death by illness, and caregiver depression did not affect the odds. Findings signal the potential of family-centered interventions and economic support services for bereaved adolescents.