Parent–child relationships following spousal/parental death: An application of relational turbulence theory

Abstract

The death of a family member is a difficult experience. Although implications of loss are felt on intra- and interpersonal levels, little is known about how it affects the relational functioning of surviving family members, and in particular the parent–child relationship. Using data collected from 144 bereaved parent–child dyads, this study examined how the divergent experiences of spousally bereaved parents and parentally bereaved children impact the parent–child relationship following spousal/parental death. Drawing from relational turbulence theory (RTT), experiences with relational uncertainty and interference from a partner were explored. Findings indicate that parent–child pairs experience different types of relational uncertainty and interference from a partner and that within-dyad disagreement on these experiences can increase the amount of uncertainty and interference from a partner that an individual faces. This study extends RTT and demonstrates its generalizability to the parent–child relationship.

Parent and Child Experiences of Parental Work–Family Conflict and Satisfaction with Work and Family

“…They found that child self-competence was directly and negatively associated with discrepancies between child and parent reports of family functioning. Droser (2020) explored agreement in perceptions of relational uncertainty and interference from a partner in bereaved parent–child pairs. Discrepancies in reported type of uncertainty or interference from a partner between parents and children led to higher levels of experienced uncertainty and interference for parents.…”

Caregivers’ Loss of the Dyadic Experience after Their Care Partners’ Death

“…To accomplish this, we used theoretical framing from the Relational Turbulence Theory (RTT). RTT provides a novel way to understand relationships in transition (Droser, 2020;Solomon & Brisini, 2019;Solomon & Knobloch, 2004;Solomon et al, 2016). The theory defines transition as a time when changing relationship status forces individuals to acclimate to new circumstances and roles (Solomon et al, 2016) such as that which occurs with the death of one partner.…”