Citation

Murphy SA, Clark Johnson L, Lohan J. J. Loss Trauma 2002; 7(3): 203-222.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/10811440290057620

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Mental distress and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were assessed simultaneously among 173 parents bereaved by the accident, suicide, or homicide death of an adolescent or young adult child. Official death records were used to identify potential participants. Study data were collected prospectively 4, 12, 24, and 60 months post-death. T tests compared study parents and normative samples on mental distress and PTSD, whereas repeated measures analysis of variance compared mothers and fathers on the same two outcomes over time. The results showed that 5 years after the deaths, 61% of the study mothers and 62% of the fathers met diagnostic criteria for mental distress, and 27.7% of the mothers and 12.5% of the fathers met diagnostic criteria for PTSD. The hypothesized interactions between gender and trends over time were partially supported, and the hypothesized main effects for both time and gender were supported. Finally, parents' self-reports were that 3 to 4 years were required to reach loss accommodation. Parents' long-term health and well-being and their bereavement service needs are discussed in light of the findings.

Language: en