When Parents are Coping Better, Kids Cope Better

What is it about?

Clinically, I have seen kids 'carry' their surviving parent's grief following the death of a loved one. What I mean by that is often, it seems that the child is not able to resolve his or her grief until the surviving parent has worked through his or her own. This study is focused on how the parent copes, and its impact on the child's journey to healing. Past studies have focused on parenting and the parent-child relationship - all important factors in the resolution of grief in families. Here, we are measuring the impact of the parent's coping on the child's well-being.

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Why is it important?

Our study's unique contribution to the literature on parentally bereaved children has to do with supporting the parent's coping, so that he or she can in turn be a support for the grieving child. Most of the work in this area has focused on various aspects of parenting, which has been found to be crucial to a return to normal functioning. However, this missing component (of the parent's emotional functioning) may help improve outcomes for these families. The stakes are high! Children who have lost a parent early on are at increased risk for a number of negative health outcomes.