Despite advances in support following baby loss over recent years, the stigma associated with the death of a baby continues to negatively affect bereaved parents worldwide. The present review aimed to systematically explore bereaved parents’ experiences of baby loss stigma. Four electronic databases were searched, and additional papers were sought through citation searching. A total of 22 papers were included and three themes were identified taking a meta-ethnographic approach: (1) Bereaved parents are silenced and alone in their grief, (2) Mothers are blamed for their child’s death and (3) Parents’ identities are questioned and changed. A line of argument synthesis outlined the need to reframe baby loss as a public rather than a personal issue with help needed to break stigma and reduce feelings of social isolation. Implications were made for how professionals and nonprofessionals can help to break the stigma which continues to surround baby loss today.

Grief is common in children. Internet interventions may increase access to help for grieving children. The co-design of a new internet intervention for grief with 11 children (mean age = 10.81 years; 64% girls, 36% boys) is described. Children emphasized the importance of colorful images and esthetics on the website, improved accessibility via audio recordings of each webpage, engaging interactive features, drawing as an alternative to written responses, and a reduction in the amount of text. We also outline plans for a randomized controlled trial, consisting of eight modules delivered over four weeks. Children aged six to 12 years, will be randomized to intervention or waitlist control. Intervention outcomes include the primary outcome of anxiety, and secondary outcomes of depression, well-being, posttraumatic stress and prolonged grief. Outcomes will be assessed at pre and post treatment and one month follow-up. Feasibility and acceptability will be assessed via attrition and qualitative interviews.

Social disconnection is characterized by a tendency among bereaved individuals to assign negative meaning to others’ behaviors, perceive themselves as changed in social interactions, and find comfort in withdrawal. It constitutes an important psychosocial pathway in bereavement adaptation. This study validated the Chinese version of Oxford Grief-Social Disconnection Scale (C-OG-SD) and examined its longitudinal predictive validity. A total of 428 bereaved adults (56.54% women) completed measures of grief, depression, and post-traumatic stress symptoms at baseline and three months later. Analyses included item analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, measurement invariance, reliability, criterion validity, and regression models. C-OG-SD showed a stable three-factor structure, good invariance, and high reliability and validity. Higher social disconnection correlated with more severe grief, depression, and post-traumatic stress. Younger individuals reported more disconnection. Baseline social disconnection predicted follow-up grief, with Altered Social Self as the strongest predictor. C-OG-SD is a reliable tool, and targeting alterations in social self may enhance intervention outcomes.

Terror Management Theory (TMT) proposes that awareness of one’s mortality can trigger emotional distress and amplify symptoms in vulnerable individuals when protective buffers are weakened. However, doubts about replicability and methodological rigor have grown. We conducted a multivariate three-level meta-analysis examining mortality salience effects on clinically relevant outcomes, synthesizing 61 outcomes from 22 randomized controlled trials (N = 2571). Results showed a moderate pooled effect (g = 0.49, 95% CI [0.20, 0.79]), with significant moderation by DSM-5 symptom type, delay presence, and study location. Publication bias was evaluated using multilevel Egger’s tests, the three-parameter selection model, and both p-curve and z-curve. P-curve indicated evidential value and moderate-to-high power, whereas z-curve suggested inflated discovery rates and low replicability. Overall, findings point to the need for stronger transparency and methodological checks, whereas the substantial heterogeneity in outcome measures and considerable flexibility in interpretation raise concerns about the robustness of TMT research.

This article explores the Four Tasks of Mourning that are perhaps the best-known of J. William (”Bill”) Worden’s contributions to the field of thanatology. The article does so by setting the tasks in the context of Worden’s distinction between grief and mourning, and by examining his choice of “tasks” as central to his theory. Following that, this article explores the evolution of the four tasks themselves and Worden’s additional theory of mediators of mourning. Finally, we examine Worden’s account of tasks and mediators of mourning for children.

Death is a frequent event for those professionals who work with older adults in day care centers (DCC) and home care services (HCS). This study aimed to profile the attitudes toward death of professionals who support community living older adults. This quantitative cross-sectional observational study used an online survey comprising a sociodemographic and professional questionnaire, the Death Attitude Profile-Revised (DAP-R) and the Satisfaction with Life scale (SWL). A convenience sample of 201 participants revealed, through cluster analysis three profiles of attitudes toward death: Neutral Acceptance (48.3%), Negative Attitudes (30.3%), and Mixed Attitudes (21.4%). Socio-demographically, only formal education was significantly associated with attitude profiles. Professionals working at DCC have a significantly higher prevalence of neutral attitudes, compared to HCS professionals. It is crucial to invest in the training and professional development of those supporting older adults in the community, particularly addressing negative and mixed attitudes toward death.

The grief literacy movement promotes normalizing and regaining conversations about death, dying and grief within communities and networks. Enhancing grief literacy enables the public to identify grief, seek relevant information and adopt appropriate support. Historically families have been the primary provider of such support, but recently in the Global North these skills and knowledge have been lost. Families and communities need to be supported to regain ownership and relearn these skills. An online resource was developed and evaluated to explore its value in supporting the knowledge, skills and values required to embed grief literacy in family and friends-based networks. This paper presents findings from qualitative interviews (n = 16) and group interviews (n = 7). These rich datasets confirmed the resource to be an effective mechanism by increasing knowledge and skills to enhance grief literacy and supporting collective grief, where loss transcends the individual and becomes a social or cultural experience for the majority who deal with their grief with the support of family and friends rather than bereavement professionals.