Older adults who lose a child feared life collapse and utilized three main strategies for coping

1. The main concern of older adults after losing their child was fear of life collapse, which can be attributed to contextual factors of double suffering and the inefficiency of government support systems.

2. To cope with the death of a child, participants utilized three strategies including trying to rebuild themselves, connecting to a higher power, and searching for positivity amidst grief.

Evidence Rating Level: 3 (Fair)

Losing a child is devastating and may have a significant negative impact on the physical and psychosocial well-being of parents’ lives. However, the specific concerns and needs that arise in older adults coping with the death of their child have not been adequately explored. This study sought to elucidate concerns and coping strategies in older adults who have experienced the loss of a child.

This was a qualitative grounded theory study of 27 Iranian older adults over the age of 60 who had experienced the death of their child. Face-to-face interviews were conducted between July 2020 and June 2021 and recorded. Themes from recorded interviews were extracted using the Corbin and Strauss methods of open coding/identifying concepts, developing concepts in terms of their properties and dimensions, analyzing data for context, bringing the process into the analysis, and integrating categories. Participants who had cognitive problems or had less than 1 year since their child’s death were excluded.

The results demonstrated that the main concern of older adults after losing their child was a fear of life collapse, which can be attributed to contextual factors of double suffering (additional feelings of anger or frustration with a party involved in their child’s death) and inefficiency of government support systems. To cope with the death of a child, participants utilized three strategies including trying to rebuild themselves, connecting to a higher power, and searching for positivity amidst grief. This study was limited by the participation of fewer fathers in the interview and the relative homogeneity of the religious background of participants (predominantly Muslim). Nonetheless, these results highlight themes that warrant exploration in future studies aimed to help develop better support strategies for adults who have experienced the loss of a child.

Click here to read this study in BMC Psychiatry

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