Parents grieving the loss of their child: interdependence in coping.
OBJECTIVE
A longitudinal study was conducted among bereaved parents, to examine the relationship between parents' own and their partners' ways of coping in terms of the constructs loss-orientation and restoration-orientation (coping strategies based on the bereavement-specific Dual Process Model (Stroebe & Schut, 1999)), and psychological adjustment following the death of their child.


METHODS
219 couples participated at 6, 13 and 20 months post-loss. Use of the Actor Partner Interdependence Model within multi-level regression analyses enabled assessment of both actor as well as partner effects, and permitted differentiating these effects according to the gender of the parent.


RESULTS
Loss-orientation was predictive of negative psychological adjustment, while restoration-orientation was related to better adjustment. Furthermore, high levels of restoration-oriented coping buffered the negative effect of high levels of loss-orientation on depression. In the interpersonal context, results indicated that for men, having a female partner high in restoration-oriented coping was related to positive adjustment.


CONCLUSIONS
In coping with the loss of their child, intra-personal as well as interpersonal processes are relevant for the adjustment process of parents after the loss of their child.
Wijngaards-de Meij
Leoniek
L
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands. l.wijngaards@uu.nl
Stroebe
Margaret
M
Schut
Henk
H
Stroebe
Wolfgang
W
van den Bout
Jan
J
van der Heijden
Peter G M
PG
Dijkstra
Iris
I
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001601:Bereavement; D002648:Child; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006117:Grief; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008016:Life Change Events; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009769:Object Attachment; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012737:Sex Factors; D012944:Social Support; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology*