Few studies have examined grief and bereavement in the context of a pandemic, particularly among young people during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The objective of this study is to examine spatiotemporal clustering of bereavement using data from Crisis Text Line, an SMS-based intervention with widespread usage among youth and adolescents in the United States from January 2017 to September 2020.

Results found significant spatial clustering of bereavement during the pandemic period in the late summer months compared with the onset of the pandemic.

Our study provides the first evidence of elevated bereavement in adolescents using a technique for rapidly identifying clusters of bereavement risk among this vulnerable subgroup. Findings can be leveraged for targeted interventions and supportive counseling in geographic hotspots.