The prevalence of PTSD following the violent death of a child and predictors of change 5 years later

Title

The prevalence of PTSD following the violent death of a child and predictors of change 5 years later

Creator

Murphy SA; Johnson LC; Chung IJ; Beaton RD

Publisher

Journal Of Traumatic Stress

Date

2003

Subject

Child; Female; Humans; Male; Adult; Prevalence; Parent-Child Relations; Aged; Middle Aged; Self Concept; Death; Sex Factors; Risk Factors; adolescent; Non-U.S. Gov't; P.H.S.; Research Support; U.S. Gov't; Adaptation; Psychological; bereavement; cause of death; social support; Stress Disorders; Post-Traumatic/epidemiology/etiology/psychology; Violence

Description

In this study, we examined the violent death bereavement trajectories of 173 parents by following them prospectively for 5 years after their children's deaths by accident, suicide, homicide, or undetermined causes. Using latent growth curve methodology, we examined how the initial level of PTSD and the rate of change over time were influenced by 9 predictors: the deceased children's causes of death, parents' gender, self-esteem, 3 coping strategies, perceived social support, concurrent levels of mental distress, and an intervention offered in early bereavement. Six of the nine factors predicted initial levels of PTSD; however, only parents' gender and perceived social support predicted change in PTSD over the 5-year time frame. Five years postdeath, 3 times as many study mothers (27.7%) met diagnostic criteria for PTSD and twice as many study fathers (12.5%) met diagnostic criteria for PTSD compared with the normative samples.

Rights

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).

Type

Journal Article

Citation List Month

Backlog

Citation

Murphy SA; Johnson LC; Chung IJ; Beaton RD, “The prevalence of PTSD following the violent death of a child and predictors of change 5 years later,” Pediatric Palliative Care Library, accessed October 15, 2024, https://pedpalascnetlibrary.omeka.net/items/show/12979.