Parenting through grief: A cross-sectional study of recently bereaved adults with minor children. (December 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Park, Eliza M; Deal, Allison M; Yopp, Justin M; Chien, Stephanie A; McCabe, Sean; Hirsch, Ariella; Bowers, Savannah M; Edwards, Teresa; Rosenstein, Donald L
• Is Part Of: Palliative medicine. Volume 35:Number 10(2021)
• Page Start: 1923
• Page End: 1932
• Publication Date: 2021-12
• Subjects: Depression -- bereavement -- grief -- parents -- adaptation -- psychological -- widowhood; Pain -- Treatment -- Periodicals; Cancer -- Palliative treatment -- Periodicals; Palliative Care -- Periodicals; Palliatieve behandeling; 616.029
• DOI: 10.1177/02692163211040982
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0269-2163

Abstract

Background: Grieving adults raising parentally-bereaved minor children experience persistently elevated symptoms of depression and grief. However, the factors associated with their mental health outcomes are not well understood. Aim: To investigate the psychosocial and demographic characteristics associated with grief distress and depressive symptom severity in bereaved adults with minor children. Design: Cross-sectional, web-based survey. Setting/participants: Eight hundred forty-five bereaved adults raising minor (age <18 years) children who had experienced the death of a co-parent. Primary outcomes were grief distress (Prolonged Grief Disorder-13), depressive symptoms (Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System-Depression), and widowed parenting self-efficacy (WPSES). Results: Mean grief scores were 33.5; mean depression scores were 58.3. Among the 690 individuals more than 6 months bereaved, 132 (19.3%) met criteria for prolonged grief disorder. In adjusted models, participants reporting higher grief scores were more recently bereaved, identified as mothers, non-Caucasian, had lower education and income, and had not anticipated their co-parent's death. The statistical modeling results for depression scores were similar to grief scores except that depression was not associated with anticipation of co-parent death. Parents reporting lower WPSES scores had higher grief and depression scores. Retrospective assessments of more intense parenting worries at the time of co-parent death were also associated with higher grief and depression scores. Conclusions: For bereaved adults with minor children, unanticipated co-parent death was linked with higher grief distress but not symptoms of depression. Addressing parenting concerns may represent a common pathway for improving the mental health of parentally-bereaved families.