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journal article Jul 26, 2024

The long-lasting effect of armed conflicts deaths on the living: Quantifying family bereavement

Diego Alburez-Gutierrez ORCID Enrique Acosta ORCID Emilio Zagheni ORCID Nathalie E. Williams
Science Advances Vol. 10 No. 30 · American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
View at Publisher Save 10.1126/sciadv.ado6951
Abstract
Armed conflicts escalate combatant and civilian mortality and produce considerable levels of family bereavement. Yet, we know little about the prevalence of bereavement in conflict-affected populations. The violent loss of kin affects individuals across several dimensions, including trauma, mental health, socioeconomic status, and caregiving, especially during childhood and old age. Here, we propose a method to quantify population-level loss of parents and offspring in conflict-affected populations. Our analyses demonstrate that bereavement levels consistently surpass fatality rates in 16 conflict-affected settings. Using demographic projections, we show that these populations will continue to experience considerable levels of bereavement in the coming decades, independent of the future development of the respective conflicts. This quantification underscores bereavement as a profound yet understudied consequence of conflict with potentially far-reaching implications lingering long after the conflict’s end.
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Metrics
12
Citations
43
References
Details
Published
Jul 26, 2024
Vol/Issue
10(30)
Authors
D
Diego Alburez-Gutierrez

Kinship Inequalities Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR), Rostock, Germany.

E
Enrique Acosta

Centre for Demographic Studies (CED), Barcelona, Spain.; Laboratory of Population Health, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR), Rostock, Germany.

E
Emilio Zagheni

Department of Digital and Computational Demography, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR), Rostock, Germany.

N
Nathalie E. Williams

Department of Sociology and Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.

Cite This Article
Diego Alburez-Gutierrez, Enrique Acosta, Emilio Zagheni, et al. (2024). The long-lasting effect of armed conflicts deaths on the living: Quantifying family bereavement. Science Advances, 10(30). https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ado6951
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