What aspects of post-traumatic growth are experienced by bereaved parents? A systematic review

Abstract

Background: The death of a child of any age can be traumatic and can leave bereaved parents experiencing negative psychological outcomes. Recent research has shown the potential utility for understanding more about the development of post-traumatic growth following bereavement.Objective: This paper sought to identify the aspects of post-traumatic growth experienced by bereaved parents and the factors that may be involved in facilitating or preventing post-traumatic growth.Methods: A systematic search of peer-reviewed articles with a primary focus on positive personal growth in bereaved parents was conducted. Thirteen articles met the inclusion criteria, and were analysed and synthesized according to common and divergent themes.Results: Bereaved parents were able to experience elements of growth proposed by the post-traumatic growth model (changes in self-perception, relationships, new possibilities, appreciation of life and existential views). The papers also indicated that (1) mothers appeared to experience more growth than fathers, (2) cultural variation may impact on some participants’ experience of growth, and (3) participants were able to identify growth only once some time had passed. Potential facilitators of post-traumatic growth involved making meaning, keeping ongoing bonds with the child, being with bereaved families, and family and personal characteristics. Social networks were identified as having the potential to be either a facilitator or a barrier to growth.Conclusions: In addition to experiencing grief, bereaved parents may experience aspects of post-traumatic growth, and a variety of factors have been identified as potential facilitators and barriers of these changes. The findings may have implications for support services (e.g. expert-by-experience services).

Peritraumatic reactions during the COVID-19 pandemic – The contribution of posttraumatic growth attributed to prior trauma

“…Reports of PTG have been documented among survivors of various types of traumatic events. These include combat or other military-related traumatic events ( Mark et al, 2018 ; Stein et al, 2020 ; Zerach, 2020 ), natural and manmade disasters (S. Brooks et al, 2020 ; Palgi et al, 2020 ), accidents, life-threatening physical illnesses ( Hefferon et al, 2009 ), bereavement ( Waugh et al, 2018 ), and childhood abuse ( Kaye-Tzadok and Davidson-Arad, 2016 ; Lev-Wiesel et al, 2004 ; Shakespeare-Finch and De Dassel, 2009 ).…”

Grief and Posttraumatic Growth Among Chinese Bereaved Parents Who Lost Their Only Child: The Moderating Role of Interpersonal Loss

“…Besides, their average time since the loss was 8.30 years, but which was limited to 2 years in the other two studies. Time since the loss seems to be an important factor associated with PTG ( Waugh et al, 2018 ). A study on bereaved youth also did not find this curve relationship ( Salloum et al, 2019 ).…”

“…Model 1 was used to explore the moderating role of interpersonal loss, while Model 2 for socio-economic loss. A systematic review of bereaved parents’ PTG suggested that gender, time since the death, and cause of death may impact PTG ( Waugh et al, 2018 ), and the continuation of family lineage is important in China. Therefore, the gender of participants (0 = male and 1 = female), time since the loss (years), cause of death (0 = non-violent, such as chronic disease; 1 = violent, such as an accident), and having a grandchild or not (0 = no and 1 = yes) were entered as covariates in step 1; grief was entered in step 2; squared grief levels (grief 2 ) was entered in step 3 to assess the curvilinear relationship between grief and PTG.…”

“…Although the negative consequences of child-loss have been well-documented, studies reported that people who struggle with traumas could also experience positive psychological changes, such as posttraumatic growth (PTG; Tedeschi and Calhoun, 2004 ). Therefore, it is not surprising that bereaved parents may achieve certain levels of PTG ( Moore et al, 2015 ; Albuquerque et al, 2018 ; Waugh et al, 2018 ), even after losing the only child ( Pan et al, 2016 ; Zhou et al, 2018 ). Three facets of growth among Chinese shidu parents have been identified in a previous study (Xu et al, under review): (1) A changed philosophy of life.…”

“…We speculated that resource loss might play a moderating role between grief and PTG, because low-to-moderate resources loss may motivate people to use active coping and instrumental coping to deal with loss and grief ( Hobfoll, 1991 ). Successful coping with more grief can provide the potential for greater PTG ( Calhoun et al, 2010 ; Waugh et al, 2018 ). However, if resources losses are severe and individual’s resources are exhausted, they may be defensive, aggressive, and even irrational ( Hobfoll et al, 2018 ).…”