Adolescent Bereavement Initiative in the Free State, South Africa

Grief intensity, including general grief, intrusive thoughts and prolonged grief, is assessed through adolescent self-report of items from three standardized scales (1) Core Bereavement Items (CBI) five-item grief subscale (Burnett et al, 1997); (2) Intrusive Grief Thoughts Scale (IGTS) (ASU Program for Prevention Research, 1999); and the (3) Inventory of Complicated Grief -Revised for Children (ICG-RC) six-item screening tool (Melhem, Porta, Payne & Brent, 2013).

Depressive symptomology will be assessed through adolescent self-report of the 20-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale for Children (CES-DC) (Weissman 1980, Faulstich 1986). Items assess the frequency of symptoms of depression including feelings of happiness, appetite, self-esteem, energy levels, sleep patterns, etc. Adolescent behaviour is assessed using the Brief Problem Monitor-Parent Form (BPM-P) (Achenbach 2011). BPM-P is a 19-item subset of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) that captures problem behaviour, including internalizing and externalizing behaviour in children ages 6-18. Caregivers report on adolescent behaviour over the past four weeks.

Caregiver-Adolescent interactions are assessed through adolescent report of connectedness to caregiver and caregiver report of positive parenting practices, such as discipline, supervision, and supportiveness. Connectedness to Caregiver is assessed using the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (Amsden & Greenberg, 1987). Positive parenting, discipline and supervision were measured using the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire short form (APQ-9) (Elgar et al). Harsh punishment is assessed through both caregiver and adolescent report using an adapted version of the Parent-Child Conflict Tactics Scale (CTSPC)'s psychological aggression and physical assault subscales (Straus et al., 1998). Supportiveness was measured with The Parent Behavior Inventory (PBI)'s Supportive/Engaged subscale, which measures parental affect towards the adolescent in their care (Lovejoy, Weis, O'hare & Rubin, 1999).

Social Support is assessed through items focused on social support received in dealing with the bereavement itself, basic social support, and emotional social support. Social support for coping with bereavement was measured using self-generated items, such as You can discuss your feelings about this loss with your family. Emotional social support is measured with the giving and receiving emotional support subscales of the 2-Way Social Support Scale (Shakespeare-Finch & Obst, 2011). Basic social support consists of four items from the MEASURE evaluation (Measure Evaluation, 2014).

Academic competence is assessed through adolescent self-report of academic self-efficacy, motivation and attendance. Academic self-efficacy is based on the academic self-efficacy subscale of the Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Children (SEQ-C) (Muris, 2001) and assesses perceived performance in school including success in paying attention, passing tests, and completing homework. Academic motivation assesses the perceived importance of education and efforts to do well in school. Attendance is measured with one self-generated item which asks about absenteeism in the seven days prior to the survey, not including school holidays.

Resilience is assessed through positive appraisal coping abilities, including perceived coping, personal growth, emotional regulation and future expectations. Perceived coping is assessed with a self-generated scale based on items from the Grief Evaluation Measure (GEM) (Jordan & Baker, 2005). Personal growth as a result of the loss is assessed using the personal growth subscale of the Hogan Grief Reaction Checklist (Hogan, Greenfield & Schmidt, 2001). Emotional regulation is based on the adolescent's emotional self-efficacy, or perceived ability to regulate feelings and emotions, and is assessed with the emotional self-efficacy subscale of the Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Children (SEQ-C) (Muris, 2001). Future expectations, or hopes for the future, is based on items from a self-generated scale used in a previous study of OVC in South Africa by the authors (Thurman, 2011) and an adapted subscale of the Social and Health Assessment (SAHA) (Ruchkin 2004).