PTSD among bereaved parents following the violent deaths of their 12‐ to 28‐year‐old children: A longitudinal prospective analysis

Abstract

This study examined the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among parents bereaved by the violent deaths of their 12- to 28-year-old children. A community-based sample of 171 bereaved mothers and 90 fathers was recruited by a review of Medical Examiner records and followed for 2 years. Four important findings emerged: Both parents' gender and children's causes of death significantly affected the prevalence of PTSD symptoms. Twice as many mothers and fathers whose children were murdered met PTSD caseness (full diagnostic) criteria compared with accident and suicide bereavement. Symptoms in the reexperiencing domain were the most commonly reported. PTSD symptoms persisted over time, with 21% of the mothers and 14% of the fathers who provided longitudinal data still meeting caseness criteria 2 years after the deaths. Parents who met caseness criteria for PTSD, compared with those who did not, were significantly different on multiple study variables. Both theoretical and clinical implications for the findings are discussed.

The Influence of Spirituality, Race/Ethnicity and Religion on Parent Grief and Mental Health at one month and three months after their Infant's/Child's death in the Neonatal or Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

“…Research studies have found that bereaved parents are more likely to experience high rates of grief and mental distress following the death of their child (Dyregrov et al, 2003;Kreicbergs et al, 2004;Murphy et al, 1999). In this study the strong association between spiritual coping strategies and lower levels of grief and mental health symptoms suggests that spiritual coping is a strong positive mediator in the reduction of grief and mental health symptoms for bereaved parents.…”

“…Bereaved parents were identified from death certificates but place of death was not reported. Murphy et al (1999) found 40% of bereaved mothers and 14% of bereaved fathers exhibited symptoms of PTSD 4 months after their child's death, however at 24 months bereaved mothers became less symptomatic for PTSD (21%) but the 14% of bereaved fathers remained symptomatic for PTSD. Cause of death also affected the manifestation of PTSD symptoms.…”

“…Differences in gender and PTSD symptoms were described by Murphy et al (1999) who found that bereaved mothers exhibited higher levels of mental distress (depression, anxiety, hostility) and more severe grief symptoms than bereaved fathers at 4 months post death. Bereaved mothers with PTSD also consumed more alcohol/week than bereaved fathers with PTSD.…”

“…These symptoms subsided 7-9 years after the death but long term anxiety and depression were higher for bereaved mothers than non-bereaved mothers (Kreicbergs, et al, 2004). Murphy et al (1999) conducted a longitudinal study that examined the prevalence of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among 260 bereaved parents (171 mothers, 90 fathers) at 4 months, 12 months and 24 months after the violent death of their child. Ages of participating parents ranged from 32-61 years (M = 45, SD = 6.01).…”

Effects of attachment style, coping strategy, social support and spirituality on parental grief among older Chinese parents : structural equation modeling.

“…Multiple studies found posttraumatic stress symptoms to be present in grieving parents after a sudden and traumatic death of their child (Kivimäki et al, 2002;Murphy et al, 1999), and parents who lost a child due to suicide developed more symptoms of PostTraumatic Stress Disorder PTSD (Dyregrov et al, 2003). The prevalence of PTSD was found to be present for as long as 5 years in bereaved parents (Murphy, Chung, & Johnson, 2002).…”