Parental Grief Response to Perinatal Death

Abstract

This study examined whether parents who had suffered perinatal loss experienced grief responses similar to other adult mourners and also examined the effect of several variables (sex, type of loss, length of time since loss, number of losses, and subsequent pregnancy) on the grief response. The Grief Experience Inventory was completed by 176 individuals, and data were analyzed by univariate and multivariate analysis of variance. Parents who experienced perinatal losses suffered grief; the findings also suggest it is not the variables which influence the grief response as much as the perception that their loss is not understood. The only significant variable was the sex of the parent. Implications are discussed.

Parental grief reactions and marital intimacy following infant death

“…grief reactions in relation to the time span (Smith and Borgers, 1989), while others have found a resurgence of grief reactions at the three-year mark (Rando, 1983).…”

“…Controversy persists in the literature regarding the relationship between the age af the child at the time of death and the parents' grief reactions. Sorne researchers have faund that the oider the child the more intense the parents' grief (Gorer, 1965;Kalish, 1977;Kirkley-Best & Kellner, 1982;Schwartz, 1977;Shneidman, 1977;Theut et al, 1989) while others have concluded that the reaction to the loss was just as great in the case of a miscarriage as a neonatal death (Davidson, 1977;De Frain & Ernst, 1978;Furman, 1978;Helmrath & Steinitz, 1978;Nichols, 1986;Peppers & Knapp, 1980;Smith & Borgers, 1989 The MBEQ's internaI consistencies were assessed using Cronbach's alpha separately for the nonbereaved husband data and the nonbereaved wife data ( Table 9). The item-tosubscale coefficients were high for both husbands and wives (range: .82 -.86 and .74 -.81 respectively).…”

“…Whereas some studies have found that the oider the child at the time of death the more intense parents' grief (Gorer, 1965;KdIish, 1977;Kirkley-Best, & Keliner, 1982;Schwartz, 1977;Shneidman, 1977;Theut et al, 1989), others have concluded that the reaction ta the loss is just as great in the case of a miscarriage as a neonatal death (Davidson, 1977;De Frain and Ernst, 1978;Furman, 1978;Helmrath & steinitz, 1978;Nichols, 1986;Peppers & Knapp, 1980;smith & Borgers, 1989).…”

A Critical Review of the Concept of Pathological Grief following Pregnancy Loss

“…For example, in the study by LaRoche and colleagues, half of the original research sample had dropped out by the follow-up assessment and were replaced by newly recruited women [17,541. Others have recruited parents by means of newspaper announcements [5] or support groups [36,64,661. It is highly likely that in groups formed, thus the number of parents found to evidence pathological grief would exceed the number that might be found in a randomly selected group.…”

Effects of attachment style, coping strategy, social support and spirituality on parental grief among older Chinese parents : structural equation modeling.

“…However, empirical research found that time since the loss may have various impact on parents' grief. One study reported no differences in grief scores of parents who lost their baby child between six months and seven years earlier (Smith & Borgers, 1989). In contrast, other study reported a decrease in the intensity of parental grief between one and 13 months post loss (Dyregrov & Matthiesen, 1991).…”