Parental Bereavement: Levels of Grief as Affected By Gender Issues

This study examined differences between men's and women's levels of grief associated with the death of a child. Nineteen bereaved individuals were contacted through a local parental bereavement group. Gender and other variable data were gathered on a demographic data form. To measure levels of grief, the Grief Experience Inventory (GEI) was employed. Analyses of the results were performed using, t-tests, and eta-squared calculations. An alpha level of .05 was used for all parametric tests. Results supported only one hypothesis, that women experience higher levels of grief then men. The hypotheses that women who lost daughters would experience higher levels of grief then women who lost sons, and that men who lost sons would experience higher levels of grief then women who lost sons were not supported. The hypotheses that men who lost sons would experience higher levels of grief than men who lost daughters, and that women who lost daughters would experience higher levels of grief then men who lost daughters were also not supported.

[1]  Barbara C. Trolley.  Kaleidoscope of Aid for Parents Whose Child Died by Suicidal and Sudden, Non-Suicidal Means , 1993 .

[2]  J. Leahy.  A Comparison of Depression in Women Bereaved of a Spouse, Child, or a Parent , 1993 .

[3]  J. R. Bohannon.  Religiosity Related to Grief Levels of Bereaved Mothers and Fathers , 1991 .

[4]  I. Silverman,et al.  Marital Dissatisfaction Following the Death of a Child: The Influence of Genetic Factors at Cause in the Death. , 1991 .

[5]  J. R. Bohannon.  Grief Responses of Spouses following the Death of a Child: A Longitudinal Study , 1991 .

[6]  R. Schwab.  Paternal and maternal coping with the death of a child , 1990 .

[7]  D. Klass,et al.  Toward A Model of Parental Grief , 1989 .

[8]  L. Gottlieb,et al.  Parents' Coping and Communication following Their Infant'S Death , 1989 .

[9]  D. Klass.  Marriage and Divorce among Bereaved Parents in a Self-Help Group , 1987 .

[10]  D. Klass,et al.  Special issues in the grief of parents of murdered children , 1987 .

[11]  B. Barber,et al.  Dimensions of Fathers' and Mothers' Supportive Behavior: The Case for Physical Affection , 1986 .

[12]  T. Rando,et al.  An investigation of grief and adaptation in parents whose children have died from cancer. , 1983, Journal of pediatric psychology.

[13]  C. Sanders.  A Comparison of Adult Bereavement in the Death of a Spouse, Child, and Parent , 1980 .

[14]  S. McClowry,et al.  Parental depression following the death of a child , 1991 .

[15]  James Jaccard,et al.  Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences , 1983 .