Protective and risk factors in the grieving process among cancer-bereaved parents: A qualitative study

Figures & data

Table 1. Characteristics of the cancer-bereaved parents.

Descriptive variables		n (%)
		Total	Mothers	Fathers
		N = 162	98 (60.5%)	64 (39.5%)
Education	High school or less	63 (38.9)	34 (34.7)	29 (45.3)
	university/college	97 (59.9)	62 (63.3)	35 (54.7)
Marital status	Partner with the child’s parent	133 (82.1)	78 (79.6)	55 (85.9)
	New partner	11 (6.8)	6 (6.1)	5 (7.8)
	Unmarried, living alone	18 (11.1)	14 (14.3)	4 (6.3)
Employment status	Working	150 (92.6)	86 (87.8)	64 (100)
	Out of work	10 (6.2)	10 (10.2)	0 (0.0)
Residence	Town/village	71 (43.8)	46 (46.9)	25 (39.1)
	City	90 (55.6)	52 (53.1)	38 (59.4)
Age (years)*		51.5 (7.6)	50.4 (7.9)	53.1 (6.8)
Time since the loss (years)*		6.0 (1.6)

Note. *Values are shown in mean (SD).

Table 2. Summary of answers to two open-ended questions and level of coping with grief.

		n (%)
		Total	Mothers	Fathers
	“What has helped you in your grief after the death of your child?”	143 (96.6)	89 (62.2)	54 (37.8)
	“Is there something in your child’s illness or death which has made your grief difficult to work through?”	121 (81.8)	77 (63.6)	44 (36.4)
Working through grief	“Yes, a little”	89 (60.1)	58 (65.2)	31 (34.8)
	“Yes, fairly much”	55 (37.2)	31 (56.4)	24 (43.6)
	“Not at all”	4 (2.7)	4 (100)	0 (0.0)

Note. The percentages in the “Total” column are derived from n = 148, while the percentages in the “Mothers” and “Fathers” columns are derived from the corresponding “Total” column.

Data availability statement

Data are available upon request from the first author.