Adults View Their Childhood Bereavement Experiences

Abstract

This study sought to determine if depression is an inevitable outcome of childhood bereavement experiences, as the Freudians believed, or if children can experience healthy mourning, as Bowlby predicted. In an application of Q methodology, 43 adults parentally bereaved as children sorted statements about childhood bereavement experiences and outcomes in adulthood. Debriefing interviews followed. Four distinct types of experience emerged through factor analysis: appreciation, frustration, enmeshment, and ambivalence. Depression was not found to be an inevitable outcome, and Bowlby's prediction that certain positive family factors can influence a child toward healthy mourning during childhood were corroborated. Salient factors contributing to healthy childhood mourning included positive relationships between the child and both parents, ample emotional and psychological support from the surviving parent, and open and honest communication with the child about the death and its impact on the family.

How schools can support children who experience loss and death

“…In these cases, procedures such as Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD) may be appropriate (Kinchin, 2007). There were a series of high profile disasters in the 1980s, such as the deaths at the Hillsborough football ground, and the book Wise before the event (Yule & Gold, 1993) was widely distributed to schools as a response.…”

“…It may be that a parent who is coping in a positive way is able to facilitate the grieving of their children through being emotionally available for them. Hurd (1999) contended that a child's healthy mourning was dependent on a number of factors. These factors included their relationship with the deceased parent, the emotional availability of the surviving parent, and effective communication within the family.…”

Counselors'-in-Training Perceptions of Gendered Behavior

“…Because of the emphasis on the subjective viewpoints of participants, Q methodology does not typically use statistical comparisons such as analysis of variance or regression models, with objective or empirical descriptors of participants, such as scores on inventories, ethnicity, sex, or age (Hurd, 1999). Q methodology does not attempt to generalize results because the sampling method uses statements, not individuals.…”

Mentaliseren leren om te kunnen rouwen

“…Er kan hooguit gesproken worden van een verloop in drie fasen: een beginfase, een middenfase en een eindfase (Van den Bout, Boelen & De Keijser, 1998). Uit onderzoek blijkt dat de kwaliteit van de relaties met anderen ten tijde van het verlies medebepalend is voor het verwerkingsproces (Hurt, 1999;Bonanno, Keltner, Holen & Horowitz, 1995;Petersen, 1998;Rosenblatt, 2000). De betrokkene kan terugvallen op belangrijke anderen, aan wie de rouwende ook vo´o´r het verlies gehecht was en met wie intimiteit werd gedeeld.…”

“…Met andere woorden: het vermogen van de persoon om zich te hechten aan anderen beı¨nvloedt de mogelijkheden tot verliesverwerking. Hurt (1999) Mensen met chronische rouw hebben hun gehechtheidssysteem georganiseerd rond de veronderstelling dat de ouders/anderen niet consistent beschikbaar of betrouwbaar zijn. Dit zijn mensen met een onveilige gepreoccupeerde gehechtheidsstijl, die tevens gedesorganiseerd zijn over het verlies: zij blijven zoeken naar wat verloren is en doen alles om verlating te voorkomen.…”