The American Psychiatric Association (APA) has updated its Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, including with new information specifically addressed to individuals in the European Economic Area. As described in the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, this website utilizes cookies, including for the purpose of offering an optimal online experience and services tailored to your preferences.

Please read the entire Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. By closing this message, browsing this website, continuing the navigation, or otherwise continuing to use the APA's websites, you confirm that you understand and accept the terms of the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, including the utilization of cookies.

×
No Access

Parents' reactions to the death of an adult child from cancer

Published Online:https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.141.9.1092

Twenty-four parents whose adult children had died of cancer completed a bereavement questionnaire and the Brief Symptom Inventory an average of 2 years after the death of their children. The parents had experienced growth in a number of areas, and although they had residual levels of grief, few had more psychiatric symptoms than would be found in a normative population. Factors that shaped the response to the loss included the prolonged and debilitating nature of the illness, the sex of the parents and children, and aspects of the parent-child relationship.

Access content

To read the fulltext, please use one of the options below to sign in or purchase access.