This study compared the long-term experiences of the loss of a spouse with the loss of a child in order to underst and better each of these two types of bereavement. Interviews were conducted with 40 individuals who lost a spouse in a motor vehicle crash 4-7 years earlier and 54 parents who lost a child in such a crash. Control respondents matched on a case-by-case basis on sex, age, income, education, and number and ages of children were also interviewed and used as a comparison for the present-day functioning measures. Significant differences between bereaved spouses and controls were revealed on several indicators of general functioning, including depression and other psychiatric symptoms, social functioning, psychological well-being, reactivity to good events, and future worries and concerns. Comparisons between bereaved and control parents also revealed significant differences on some measures of general functioning (especially depression), but these were not as pervasive as the differences obtained in the spouse study. Thus, the results indicated that conjugal bereavement may pose more difficulties for subsequent functioning than the loss of a child; however these differences were slight. A number of differences in the grief experiences of bereaved spouses and parents were discovered. Bereaved parents reported less resolution than bereaved spouses on a variety of cognitive and emotional resolution variables, such as present ruminations of the loved one, reviewing the events that led up to the accident, asking "Why me? or Why my loved one?", and continuing to search for meaning. However, in line with the functioning data, bereaved parents, compared to bereaved spouses, felt they were doing better (1) compared to others who had suffered similar losses, and (2) compared to how they thought they would be doing. Other results indicated that bereaved parents were significantly more likely than bereaved spouses to have mentioned help they received from God or religious beliefs, or a belief in a possible afterlife for their children. Bereaved spouses reported more problems with chronic role strains and daily hassles, loneliness, and a lack of life goals.Ph.D.Social psychologyUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/160821/1/8600483.pd
