Research has shown that young children have some understandings of death. However, adults are hesitant (or even avoidant) to discuss death with young children for fear that they will scare them, or they are not sure what to tell them. Sessions were part of this project, educating adults in a child’s development and how that development affects what young children understand about death. The three sessions, completed over two weeks, included three topics including anxieties the adult may have about death, cognitive and emotional development of the young child, and the adult’s role in discussing death with young children. Participants completed a pre- and post-test. Results indicated that adults felt more comfortable discussing the death of a person with a young child, as well as feeling less avoidant of having those discussions.
","abstract_html":"<p>Research has shown that young children have some understandings of death. However, adults are hesitant (or even avoidant) to discuss death with young children for fear that they will scare them, or they are not sure what to tell them. Sessions were part of this project, educating adults in a child’s development and how that development affects what young children understand about death. The three sessions, completed over two weeks, included three topics including anxieties the adult may have about death, cognitive and emotional development of the young child, and the adult’s role in discussing death with young children. Participants completed a pre- and post-test. Results indicated that adults felt more comfortable discussing the death of a person with a young child, as well as feeling less avoidant of having those discussions.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Olin, Teresa Clare"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts in Child Development","degree_level":"Project","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Wilcox, Amanda"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-06-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2016-06-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:53:00Z","subjects":["death understanding","young children","zero to five","Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd/323","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Wilcox, Amanda"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Olin, Teresa Clare"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2016-05-17T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Project"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts in Child Development"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["death understanding","young children","zero to five","Psychology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd/323"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Research has shown that young children have some understandings of death. However, adults are hesitant (or even avoidant) to discuss death with young children for fear that they will scare them, or they are not sure what to tell them. Sessions were part of this project, educating adults in a child’s development and how that development affects what young children understand about death. The three sessions, completed over two weeks, included three topics including anxieties the adult may have about death, cognitive and emotional development of the young child, and the adult’s role in discussing death with young children. Participants completed a pre- and post-test. Results indicated that adults felt more comfortable discussing the death of a person with a young child, as well as feeling less avoidant of having those discussions.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Discussing Death with Young Children"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Wilcox, Amanda"],"dc:creator":["Olin, Teresa Clare"],"dc:date.available":["2016-05-17T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Research has shown that young children have some understandings of death. However, adults are hesitant (or even avoidant) to discuss death with young children for fear that they will scare them, or they are not sure what to tell them. Sessions were part of this project, educating adults in a child’s development and how that development affects what young children understand about death. The three sessions, completed over two weeks, included three topics including anxieties the adult may have about death, cognitive and emotional development of the young child, and the adult’s role in discussing death with young children. Participants completed a pre- and post-test. Results indicated that adults felt more comfortable discussing the death of a person with a young child, as well as feeling less avoidant of having those discussions.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd/323"],"dc:subject":["death understanding","young children","zero to five","Psychology"],"dc:title":["Discussing Death with Young Children"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Project"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts in Child Development"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:53:00Z"}