The National Archive of Grief Support Studies
The National Archive of Grief Support Studies(NAGSS) database provides bibliographical information and summaries of recent articles selected for their relevance to grief and bereavement service providers. The articles that are summarized are selected from scholarly, peer-reviewed journals and are intended to highlight key concepts as well as provide a brief statement of implications for service providers. Bibliographical information may be used to obtain the original article.
The Impact of Circumstances Surrounding the Death of a Child on Parents’ Grief
Authors:
Wijngaards-de Meij, Leoniek
Stroebe, Margaret
Stroebe, Wolfgang
Schut, Henk
Van Den Bout, Jan
Van Der Heijden, Peter
Dijksgtra, Iris
Source:
Death Studies: 2008. Volume 32, pp. 237-254.
Summary
This article presents the findings of a longitudinal study conducted in the Netherlands of bereaved parents. The study examined the relationship between the children’s causes of death and the parents’ experiences of grief and depression after the loss. The study participants included 219 parent couples who were interviewed three times over the course of 14 months: the first interview and testing was done at 6 months post-loss, the second at 13 months post-loss, and the final testing was done at 20 months after the death of the child. The research considered two categories, unchangeable factors (i.e., the cause of death) and changeable events (i.e., burial vs. cremation). Two changeable factors were determined to be related to lower levels of grief: being able to say goodbye to their child and being able to lay the child’s body out for viewing. Whether or not the child was buried or cremated did not appear to have an effect on the parents’ level of grief. The researchers also found that women experienced more depression than men, and that the older the child was at the time of death, the greater the level of the parents’ depression. Depression scores were found to decline somewhat over time.
Key words: child, communciate, parent
Service Provider Implications
This article is important to clinicians in that it is one of very few studies to date which has examined the relationship between factors surrounding the death of children and the impact those factors have on the parents’ grief and/or depression. The findings indicate that parents should be encouraged to say goodbye to their child. Also, supporting parents in the decision to have a viewing of the child appears to be beneficial. Finally, clinicians should be aware that depression is common among women and parents whose child died unexpectedly.
