NCJ Number
225628
Journal
Journal of Adolescent Research Volume: 24 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2009 Pages: 67-90
Date Published
January 2009
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This study examined how online social networking facilitates adolescent grieving following the sudden death of a peer.
Abstract
Results suggest that through their online communications, adolescents appeared to cling to an “ongoing attachment” with the deceased as their online commentary was almost exclusively directed toward their deceased peer. Based on prior literature explaining human coping processes and responses to stress as well as information specific to adolescent development, online social networking sites do appear to facilitate adolescent coping in a way that not only grants unlimited availability and freedom of speech but also the opportunity to visually reflect back over their relationship with the deceased and their own emotions. This study illustrates some of the specific and at times intense emotions adolescents experience while grieving and provides insight into their coping processes. Content posted by teenage Internet users suggests there may be stages of coping particularly salient to adolescence such as guilt, mourning, lost opportunity, information seeking, humor, and personalization of others’ emotions and actions. Data were collected from a sample of 20 online social networking profiles authored by adolescents between the ages of 15 and 19 who had died suddenly between the years 2005 and 2007 in the United States. Tables, figures, and references