Photographers’ Handling of Cultural Rituals and Conventions of Bereaved Parents After the Loss of a Child

Background. Some consider the loss of a child as the most stressful life event. When the death is caused by a malignancy, the parents are commonly exposed not only to their own loss, but also to the protracted physical and emotional suffering of the child. We investigated parental risk of anxiety and depression 4–9 years after the loss of a child owing to a malignancy.Method. In 2001, we attempted to contact all parents in Sweden who had lost a child due to a malignancy during 1992–1997. We used an anonymous postal questionnaire and utilized a control group of non-bereaved parents with a living child.Results. Participation among bereaved parents was 449/561 (80%); among non-bereaved 457/659 (69%). We found an increased risk of anxiety (relative risk 1·5, 95% confidence interval 1·1–1·9) and depression (relative risk 1·4, 95% confidence interval 1·1–1·7) among bereaved parents compared with non-bereaved. The risk of anxiety and depression was higher in the period 4–6 years after bereavement than in the 7–9 years period, during which the average excess risks approached zero. Psychological distress was overall higher among bereaved mothers and loss of a child aged 9 years or older implied an increased risk, particularly for fathers.Conclusions. Psychological morbidity in bereaved parents decreases to levels similar to those among non-bereaved parents 7–9 years after the loss. Bereaved mothers and parents who lose a child 9 years or older have on average an excess risk for long-term psychological distress.

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Kaleidoscope of Aid for Parents Whose Child Died by Suicidal and Sudden, Non-Suicidal Means

OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying ◽

10.2190/humq-kvbq-a02b-ydyb ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 27 (3) ◽

pp. 239-250 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Barbara C. Trolley

Keyword(s):

Grief Counseling ◽

Sudden Loss ◽

Survivors Of Suicide ◽

Bereaved Parents ◽

Grief Process ◽

Impossible Task ◽

Loss Of A Child

The sudden loss of a child, especially by suicide, can be a lifelong sentence of suffering for the bereaved parents. Reaching out for help is often an inconceivable and impossible task for the parent survivors due to the complex grief process that is experienced. What roles helpers can play, who can fill this position of helper, and what criteria such providers of assistance must meet to be effective are addressed. Special considerations in doing grief counseling with survivors of suicide are summarized.

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The Experiences of Bereaved Parents After the Loss of a Child to Cancer: A Qualitative Metasynthesis

Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing ◽

10.1177/1043454220944059 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 37 (6) ◽

pp. 444-457

Author(s):

Naiara Barros Polita ◽

Francine de Montigny ◽

Rhyquelle Rhibna Neris ◽

Willyane de Andrade Alvarenga ◽

Fernanda Machado Silva-Rodrigues ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quality Appraisal ◽

Bereaved Parents ◽

Grief Process ◽

Qualitative Evidence ◽

Final Sample ◽

New Meanings ◽

Before And After ◽

Text Reading ◽

Loss Of A Child ◽

Child's Death

This study aims to synthesize qualitative evidence about the bereavement experience of parents following the death of a child due to cancer. A qualitative metasynthesis was conducted from searching five databases. The search identified 650 articles that were independently assessed by two reviewers. Thirty-one articles were selected for full-text reading and assessed for eligibility; a total of 14 articles were included in the final sample and submitted to quality appraisal. The software NVivo® was used to organize the data and support the thematic analysis procedures. Two analytical themes were constructed: (1) losing a child and facing a rupture in identity and sense of life and (2) surviving grief and reengaging in life. The grief process was dynamic, continuous, and begun before the death of the child. Fathers and mothers reacted differently to the loss and experience of grief. The loss of a child definitively changed the parents’ life and caused identity crisis and loss of life’s purpose. During the process of survival, parents constructed new meanings that helped them cope with grief; they used strategies that allowed them to recover their sense of purpose in life. Synthesizing the experience of bereaved parents is essential to improve the support families of children with advanced cancer receive to better cope with their suffering and loss, before and after the child’s death.

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The dynamics of spousal relationships after the loss of a child among bereaved Malay parents

Interpersona An International Journal on Personal Relationships ◽

10.5964/ijpr.v12i1.288 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 51-67 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Nur Atikah Mohamed Hussin ◽

Taufik Mohammad ◽

Azlinda Azman ◽

Joan Guàrdia-Olmos ◽

Anna Liisa Aho

Keyword(s):

Thematic Analysis ◽

Cultural Beliefs ◽

Coping Mechanisms ◽

Spousal Relationship ◽

Spousal Relationships ◽

Bereaved Parents ◽

Gender Characteristics ◽

Loss Of A Child ◽

Relationship Of ◽

The Relationship

The purpose of this study is to explore the dynamics of the relationship between bereaved parents after the loss of their child. Literature has attempted to understand how coping mechanisms related to gender characteristics, communication, and intimacy influence the spousal relationship after the loss of a child. However, this area is scarcely explored in a Malaysian context. This qualitative study involved 11 bereaved parents. These parents had lost their children due to accidents (n = 9) and homicide (n = 2). Open-ended questions that focused on the patterns of the spousal relationship were administered to the parents. The data were analysed using thematic analysis. Some of the main themes found were that constructive communication and intimacy are interrelated in helping bereaved parents to cope better. Nonverbal intimacy is helpful. Avoidance or limited communication and intimacy are influenced by religion and cultural beliefs. The bereavement responses influenced the spousal relationship, causing it to become stronger, weaker, or causing the parents to act like nothing had happened. This study helps us to understand the effects of the loss of a child on the spousal relationship of the bereaved parents. This study makes recommendations related to the adjustment and maintenance of a healthy spousal relationship after the loss of a child.

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The Death of a Child: Institutional Maintenance of Family Welfare after the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake in the People's Republic of China

Pacific Affairs ◽

10.5509/2020932305 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 93 (2) ◽

pp. 305-326

Author(s):

Alison Lamont

Keyword(s):

Wenchuan Earthquake ◽

People’S Republic Of China ◽

Family Welfare ◽

People's Republic Of China ◽

2008 Wenchuan Earthquake ◽

Republic Of China ◽

The 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake ◽

Bereaved Parents ◽

Death Of A Child ◽

Loss Of A Child

Within the institution of family welfare in the People's Republic of China, the role of the child as future caregiver is so deeply institutionalized as to be almost invisible to policy makers and family members. This article explores institutional responses to the death of a child after the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake to demonstrate how this taken-for-grantedness of the child caregiver role has opened up bereaved parents to social risk, and how actors must perform institutional work to "repair the breach" of the loss of a child in a family. Findings show that after the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, policy actors took steps to manipulate entrenched family welfare resources, including the population and family planning regulations, to enable bereaved parents to have another child. In so doing, they sought to patch and restore meaning to the family welfare institution, enabling it to continue autopoiesis and resist institutional change in the face of exogenous shock. Use of policy and the positive representation of the policy outcomes in the state-led media enabled sensegiving to be imbued into an otherwise emotionally conflicted decision to try to conceive again soon after the loss of a child.

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