文章基本信息

标题：Losing a child: finding meaning in bereavement
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作者：Julia Bogensperger ; Brigitte Lueger-Schuster
期刊名称：European Journal of Psychotraumatology
印刷版ISSN：2000-8198
电子版ISSN：2000-8066
出版年度：2014
卷号：5
DOI：10.3402/ejpt.v5.22910
语种：English
出版社：Taylor & Francis Group
摘要：Background: Confronting the loss of a loved one leads us to the core questions of human existence. Bereaved parents have to deal with the rupture of a widely shared concept of what is perceived to be the natural course of life and are forced into meaning reconstruction.Objective: This study aims to expand upon existing work concerning specific themes of meaning reconstruction in a sample of bereaved parents. More specifically, the relationship between meaning reconstruction, complicated grief, and posttraumatic growth was analyzed, with special attention focused on traumatic and unexpected losses.Method: In a mixed methods approach, themes of meaning reconstruction (sense-making and benefit-finding) were assessed in in-depth interviews with a total of 30 bereaved parents. Posttraumatic growth and complicated grief were assessed using standardized questionnaires, and qualitative and quantitative results were then merged using data transformation methods.Results: In total 42 themes of meaning reconstruction were abstracted from oral material. It was shown that sense-making themes ranged from causal explanations to complex philosophical beliefs about life and death. Benefit-finding themes contained thoughts about personal improvement as well as descriptions about social actions. Significant correlations were found between the extent of sense-making and posttraumatic growth scores (rs=0.54, rs=0.49; p<0.01), especially when the death was traumatic or unexpected (rs=0.67, rs=0.63; p<0.01). However, analysis revealed no significant correlation with complicated grief. Overall results corroborate meaning reconstruction themes and the importance of meaning reconstruction for posttraumatic growth.Keywords: Complicated grief; posttraumatic growth; death; parental bereavement; meaning reconstruction(Published: 31 March 2014)For the abstract or full text in other languages, please see Supplementary files in the column to the right (under Article Tools)Citation: European Journal of Psychotraumatology 2014, 5: 22910 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/ejpt.v5.22910
关键词：Complicated grief; posttraumatic growth; death; parental bereavement; meaning reconstruction