Population, Health and Place Ph.D. candidate Michelle Livings is the first author of "Bereavement & mental health: The generational consequences of a grandparent's death," published in SSM - Mental Health.
Livings co-authored this paper with Emily Smith-Greenaway, Ph.D., USC associate professor of sociology; Rachel Margolis, Ph.D., University of Western Ontario associate professor of sociology; and Ashton M. Verdery, Ph.D., Penn State University associate professor of sociology and demography.
Livings and her colleagues found that COVID-19 has caused a spike in depression symptoms for adolescent boys after a recent death of a grandmother.
Just in the United States alone as of May 2, 2022, more than 4 million people have lost a grandparent due to COVID-19, with a corresponding rise in family bereavement. This study points to the pressing need for services and interventions that will help adolescents and their parents cope with the grief process.
