Dyadic Coping of Parents After the Death of a Child

Abstract

This article explores the grief process of parents following the death of a child due to a life-limiting illness, putting particular focus on dyadic coping. Participants included 46 married parents (23 couples). A mixed-methods design was used with in-depth interviews and standardized questionnaires. All parents were interviewed separately. Aspects of common dyadic coping (e.g., sharing emotions or maintaining bonds to the child) helped them work through their grief as a couple but also individually. The authors conclude that dyadic coping plays an important role in grief work and adjustment to bereavement.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank the parents interviewed in this study for sharing their experiences with us. We thank the health care professionals who helped with recruiting the participants, as well as the research assistants for their support in the analyses of the interviews. We thank Heather Murray for her comments and suggestions on the language in the manuscript.