Bereavement stressors and psychosocial well-being of young adults following the loss of a parent A cross-sectional surveyShow others and affiliations
2018 (English)In: European Journal of Oncology Nursing, ISSN 1462-3889, E-ISSN 1532-2122, Vol. 35, p. 33-38Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Purpose: The knowledge about young adults who have lost a parent to cancer is limited, and to reach a broader understanding about this group, this study used the Dual Process Model of Coping with Bereavement (Stroebe and Schut, 1999) as a theoretical framework. The purpose of this study was to describe loss- and restoration oriented bereavement stressors and psychosocial wellbeing of young adults following the loss of a parent to cancer. Mathod: This survey used baseline data from a longitudinal study. Young adults, aged 16-28 years, who lost a parent to cancer more than two months earlier and agreed to participate in support groups held at three palliative care services in Sweden, responded to a comprehensive theory-based study-specific questionnaire. Results: Altogether, 77 young adults (64 women and 13 men) answered the questionnaire an average of five-to eight months after the loss. Twenty percent (n = 15) had not been aware of their parents impending death at all or only knew a few hours before the death, and 65% (n = 50) did not expect the death when it occurred. The young adults reported low self-esteem (n = 58, 76%), mild to severe anxiety (n = 55, 74%), mild to severe depression (n = 23, 31%) and low life satisfaction. Conclusion: Young adults reported overall poor psychosocial wellbeing following bereavement. The unexpectedness and unawareness of the parents imminent death, i.e., loss-oriented bereavement stressors, might influence psychosocial wellbeing. Despite these reports, restoration-oriented stressors, such as support from family and friends, helped them to cope with the loss.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
ELSEVIER SCI LTD , 2018. Vol. 35, p. 33-38
Keywords [en]
Bereavement; Cancer; Palliative care; Parental death; Psychosocial; Young adult
National Category
Nursing
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-150873DOI: 10.1016/j.ejon.2018.05.004ISI: 000441490600005PubMedID: 30057081OAI: oai:DiVA.org:liu-150873DiVA, id: diva2:1245889
2018-09-062018-09-062018-09-06