A Comparison Of Continuing Bonds Over Time In Bereaved Parents And Siblings After The Death Of A Child

A Comparison Of Continuing Bonds Over Time In Bereaved Parents And Siblings After The Death Of A Child

Akard T F; Dietrich M; Baudino M; Stone A

Journal Of Pain And Symptom Management

2016

Objectives * Compare purposeful and non-purposeful continuing bonds between one and two years post-death. * Compare comforting and discomforting effects of continuing bonds between one and two years post-death. Original Research Background. Continuing bonds refer to bereaved individuals maintaining connections with the deceased. Continuing bonds have been described as a coping strategy for bereaved individuals, but few studies have compared similarities and differences in how bonds evolve over time. Research Objectives. This study compared reports of continuing bonds from bereaved parents and siblings at one (T1) and two (T2) years after the death of a child to cancer. Methods. Twenty-six families participated in both years of the study. Participants included mothers (n = 21), fathers (n =15), and siblings (n = 25). Semi-structured home interviews using open-ended questions were conducted with parents and siblings separately. Content analysis identified emerging themes and included counts and frequencies of participant responses. McNemar tests examined differences in the frequency of responses between T1 and T2 data. Results. Similar to participants' reports at one year post-death, themes emerging from participants' reports at two years post-death included purposeful (e.g., visual representations of the deceased, visiting the cemetery, communicating to the deceased) and non-purposeful (e.g., dreams about the deceased, visits/signs from the deceased) continuing bonds and comforting and discomforting effects. Frequency reports of each category at T1 and T2 will be presented. Comparisons between T1 and T2 data were not statistically significant. Conclusion. Reports of continuing bonds from bereaved parents and siblings after the death of a child are similar at one and two years post-death. Continuing bonds may be a long-term coping strategy used by bereaved individuals. Implications for Research, Policy or Practice. Providers should be mindful to assess continuing bonds with bereaved families and aware that effects can be both comforting and discomforting. More research is needed to determine how to facilitate positive effects from continuing bonds and whether interventions to promote bonds could be helpful.

Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).

March 2016 List