Influence of Gender on the Problems of Parents of Fatally Ill Children

Abstract

This investigation addressed the question of whether mothers and fathers have different problems during a child's fatal illness. A study of 145 parents of children who were treated for cancer or blood disorders at a large urban pediatric hospital and who subsequently died found that parents did have some common problems. However, both mothers and fathers reported many problems that were unique and could be attributed to their differential roles in the family. The implications of the qualitative and quantitative analyses of the data are discussed in relation to the influence of gender on parents' social construction of reality and to anticipatory and postdeath mourning.