Conversations on the Fringe

The impact of a death on a teen relates to a combination of factors including:

• Social support systems available for the teen (family, friends and/or community)
• Circumstances of the death – how, where and when the person died
• Whether or not the young person unexpectedly found the body
• The nature of the relationship with the person who died – harmonious, abusive, conflictual, unfinished, communicative
• The teen’s level of involvement in the dying process
• The emotional and developmental age of the teen
• The teen’s previous experiences with death