Research

Strength-Based Outcomes for Grieving Youth

Inventory for Youth Adaptation to Loss (IYAL)

Looking for a strength-based, validated outcome measurement tool for grieving youth?

Inventory for Youth Adaptation to Loss (IYAL)

Why this matters

Many grief programs want to measure outcomes, but most available tools pathologize grief. The IYAL, the doctoral work of Jeff’s Place Founding Director, Dr. Jenny Kaplan, measures outcomes associated with grief support services by measuring changes over time related to a youth’s communication, sense of social support, sense of connection, and social and emotional experiences of loss and resilience.

How did the IYAL Evolve?

For more than 10 years, Dr. Kaplan worked in partnership with dozens of childhood bereavement service providers in refining the IYAL. Since 2018, ALEX CARES has been a key partner with Jeff’s Place in piloting the IYAL, culminating in a groundbreaking 2-year research study that launched in September 2022. In September 2023, William James College joined this exciting partnership and spearheaded this study.

About the Study

This was a follow-up study examining the psychometric properties of the IYAL.

Participants

40 youth enrolled in a grief support program
Average age: 10.25 years (SD = 2.66)
55% female
62.5% White

Key Findings

The IYAL demonstrated acceptable reliability across all subscales and the total score.

Results indicated that only the Social Emotional Loss subscale on the IYAL was associated with measures of anxiety and depression (all other subscales, and the total IYAL score, were not correlated with anxiety or depression).

The correlation between this subscale and various forms of psychopathology was negative, suggesting that participants with higher adaptation to the social emotional aspects of loss had lower levels of anxiety and depression.

Taken together, findings suggest that the IYAL measures something distinct from anxiety and depression, instead focusing on ways that individuals may adapt to loss from a growth-based perspective.

Future research will continue to examine the IYAL in the hopes of showing it is sensitive to change following participation in grief programs.

Access to the IYAL

If you are interested in using the IYAL as part of your own program evaluation, please contact:

Liz Millette, Clinical Director at Jeff’s Place
[email protected]

If you are interested in contributing to the ongoing development of the IYAL and other research related to studying youth bereavement from a growth-based perspective, please contact:

Dr. Matt Carper, William James College
[email protected]