The replacement child?A developmental tragedy: Some preliminary comments

Legg, Cecily; Sherick, Ivan

doi:10.1007/bf01464035

Cited by 26 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 12 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Parents of fertile age who lose an infant child might also be more inclined to give birth to a new child [30]. The new child's entry into the family may interrupt, distort, and delay the mourning process and thereby buffer health consequences of the child's death [35].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing the anniversary reaction: causal effects of bereavement in a nationwide follow-up study from Sweden

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Lingering grief associated with the death of a loved one has been hypothesized to precipitate acute health events among survivors on anniversary dates. We sought to study excess mortality risk in parents around the death date and birth date of a deceased child as an indication of a "bereavement effect". We conducted a population based follow-up study using Swedish registries including links between children and parents. All biological and Swedish-born parents who experienced the death of a minor child born were observed during the period 1973-2008 (n = 48,666). An increased mortality risk was found during the week of a child's death among mothers who lost a child aged 0-17 years (SMRR = 1.46, 95% CI 0.98-2.17). The association was stronger among mothers who lost a child aged 1-17 years (SMRR = 1.89, 95% CI 0.97-3.67) as compared to those who lost an infant (SMRR = 1.29, 95% CI 0.78-2.12). Cardiovascular diseases and suicides were overrepresented as causes of death in mothers who died around the anniversary. We found no significant increase in the mortality risk around the date of child's birth, nor any suggestion of excess mortality risk among fathers, but rather a depression of paternal death (SMRR = 0.60, 95% CI 0.34-1.03). Our study indicates an anniversary reaction among mothers who lost a young child. These results suggest that bereavement per se could have an effect on health and mortality which should be acknowledged by public health professionals working with bereaved people.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing the anniversary reaction: causal effects of bereavement in a nationwide follow-up study from Sweden

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, the long‐term sequelae of less optimal mother–child interaction and of distorted maternal perceptions of child difficulties and vulnerability are unknown. It is possible that they might cause different levels of cognitive and emotional interference within the context of each developmental phase (Legg & Sherick, 1976), with the affective and associative links needing to be reworked each time.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychological vulnerability in children next‐born after stillbirth: a case–control follow‐up study

Turton

Badenhorst

Pawlby

et al. 2009

Child Psychology Psychiatry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study provides no evidence to suggest that siblings born after stillbirth are clinically at risk but does lend empirical support to clinical reports that such children are seen by their mothers as having problems and that they are exposed to less optimal interaction with their mothers. Possible interpretations of these findings are discussed in the context of theoretical accounts of 'replacement child' and 'vulnerable child' syndromes.

show abstract

“…Fear of another loss, over-idealization of the deceased, or a sense of disloyalty can complicate new attachments. Avoidance of mourning by precipitous remarriage or attachment to a 'replacement child' (Legg & Sherick, 1979) We have noted that unattended mourning often surfaces at the breakup of a remarriage or at later separation attempts by a replacement child .…”

Section: Family Adaptation To Lossmentioning

confidence: 97%