Somatic Consequences of Childhood Grief: A Narrative Review

Background: Childhood grief constitutes a profound developmental stressor with multidimensional consequences extending beyond psychological and cognitive domains to encompass somatic and physiological aspects. Despite growing recognition of its mental health burden, studies on its somatic biopsychological consequences are scarce.  Objectives: This study aimed to synthesize existing evidence on the somatic consequences of grief in children and to critically appraise potential neurobiological and psychophysiological pathways involved.  Methods: This is a narrative review using interpretive thematic analysis. Relevant studies were retrieved from PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO, Embase, and Google Scholar. The search covered articles published from January ۲۰۰۰ to May ۲۰۲۶, using keywords such as “bereavement,” “grief,” “children,” “somatic symptoms,” “physiological stress response,” and “health outcomes”. Data were extracted and synthesized using an interpretive analytical framework to identify recurring patterns and mechanistic pathways.        Results: Bereaved children exhibit a broad range of somatic disorders, including sleep disturbances, recurrent abdominal pain, gastrointestinal dysregulation, eating problems, cardiovascular symptoms, and medically unexplained physical symptoms. At the biological level, findings consistently highlight sustained dysregulation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, altered cortisol patterns, autonomic imbalance, and immune-inflammatory activation. Longitudinal studies further suggested that childhood grief may be associated with increased vulnerability to chronic somatic and cardiovascular diseases in adulthood. Conclusions: Childhood grief is a complex biopsychosocial condition with somatic consequences mediated through neuroendocrine and immunological pathways. An integrated clinical perspective that simultaneously addresses psychological and somatic symptoms is essential for early identification of high-risk children and for the prevention of long-term health deterioration.

کلیدواژه ها:

Grief ، Children ، Somatic symptoms ، biopsychosocial model ، Hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis