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2021 (English)In: European Journal of Oncology Nursing, ISSN 1462-3889, E-ISSN 1532-2122, Vol. 50, article id 101883Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
PURPOSE: Talking and grieving together may be advantageous for maintaining belief in a meaningful future and can help bereaved adolescents and their parents to cope better with the situation. The aim of this study was to explore communication, self-esteem and prolonged grief in adolescent-parent dyads, following the death of a parent to cancer.
METHOD: This study has a descriptive and comparative design. Twenty family dyads consisting of parentally bereaved adolescents (12-19 years) and their widowed parents completed the Parent and Adolescent Communication Scale, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and Prolonged Grief-13, 1-4 years following the death of a parent.
RESULTS: Twelve family dyads reported normal-high parent-adolescent communication, 11 dyads rated normal-high self-esteem. Two adolescents and three parents scored above the cut-off for possible prolonged grief disorder (≥35), none of these were in the same dyads. There was a difference (p < .05) between boys (mean 40.0) and girls (mean 41.9) with regard to open family communication, as assessed by parents. Girls reported lower self-esteem (mean 26.0) than boys (mean 34.1, p < .01).
CONCLUSIONS: This study provides insights from parentally bereaved families which indicate that despite experiencing the often-traumatic life event of losing a parent or partner, most participants reported normal parent-adolescent communication, normal self-esteem and few symptoms of prolonged grief. The potential usefulness of identifying families who may need professional support in family communication following the death of a parent is discussed.
Keywords
Adolescents, Bereavement, Communication, Family centred care, Family nursing, Person-centred care
National Category
Nursing
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:esh:diva-8562 (URN)10.1016/j.ejon.2020.101883 (DOI)000632612300018 ()33360292 (PubMedID)
Funder
The Kamprad Family Foundation, 54502
Note
Forskningsfinansiär: Gålöstiftelsen, [54505]
2021-02-012021-02-012022-01-07Bibliographically approved