Parents’ Grief Process After the Death of Their Child From Substance Abuse
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 24225352 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Susanna Vainio (0000-0001-8120-3915, Tampere University), Anja Terkamo‐moisio (0000-0003-1483-1238, Faculty of Health Science, Nursing Science, University of Helsinki & University of Eastern Finland), Anna Liisa Aho (0000-0001-6859-8430, Tampere University) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 302228261495238-302228261495238 |
| Publication date | 2026-10-10 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0030-2228 • E-ISSN: 1541-3764 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/00302228261495238 |
| PMID | 42858144 |
| OpenAlex | W7221319410 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 25 |
The purpose of this study was to describe parents’ grief process after the death of their child caused by substance abuse. The research data were collected from parents at closed peer discussion forums online using an e-questionnaire with open-ended questions (n = 95) and seven parents were additionally interviewed. The research data were analysed using data-driven content analysis. The parents’ grief process after the death of their child from substance abuse included the processing of traumatic emotional experiences, a strain on well-being and functional capacity, grieving and grief avoidance, change in the parenthood identity, disintegration of social relationships, acceptance of the death of the child and hopelessness about the future. Parents’ grief process after the child’s death from substance abuse is extremely comprehensive, permanently affecting different areas of the parents’ lives, including strain on well-being and functional capacity, change in the parenthood identity and disintegration of social relationships.
Bereavement · child death · hopelessness · interpersonal relationships · parental grief · Substance abuse · Well-being · Death, Funerary Practices, and Mourning · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues
Research Paper Post-traumatic growth following bereavement
Methods and Meanings
“Nothing to mourn, He was just a drug addict” - stigma towards people bereaved by drug-related death
Qualitative Methods for Health Research
Sounds of silence. The “special grief” of drug-death bereaved parents
Perceptions of the Use of Alcohol and Drugs after Sudden Bereavement by Unnatural Causes
Bereavement through substance use
How do family members experience drug death bereavement? A systematic review of the literature
Grief and Healing Trajectories of Drug-Death-Bereaved Parents
Overload
Toward an Experiential Theory of Bereavement
Bereavement Following Substance Misuse
What is ‘sensitive’ about sensitive research? The sensitive researchers’ perspective
Grief in a biography of losses
Meaning reconstruction in bereavement
Special death’
It's a Bit of a Double-Edged Sword
Qualitative Content Analysis
Taboo and the different death? Perceptions of those bereaved by suicide or other traumatic death
| Highly cited | No |
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