Losing a child: finding meaning in bereavement

Confronting the loss of a loved one leads us to the core questions of human existence. Bereaved parents have to deal with the rupture of a widely shared concept of what is perceived to be the natural course of life and are forced into meaning reconstruction. This study aims to expand upon existing work concerning specific themes of meaning reconstruction in a sample of bereaved parents. More specifically, the relationship between meaning reconstruction, complicated grief, and posttraumatic growth was analyzed, with special attention focused on traumatic and unexpected losses. In a mixed methods approach, themes of meaning reconstruction (sense-making and benefit-finding) were assessed in in-depth interviews with a total of 30 bereaved parents. Posttraumatic growth and complicated grief were assessed using standardized questionnaires, and qualitative and quantitative results were then merged using data transformation methods. In total 42 themes of meaning reconstruction were abstracted from oral material. It was shown that sense-making themes ranged from causal explanations to complex philosophical beliefs about life and death. Benefit-finding themes contained thoughts about personal improvement as well as descriptions about social actions. Significant correlations were found between the extent of sense-making and posttraumatic growth scores (<i>r</i> _s=0.54, <i>r</i> _s=0.49; <i>p</i>&lt;0.01), especially when the death was traumatic or unexpected (<i>r</i> _s=0.67, <i>r</i> _s=0.63; <i>p</i>&lt;0.01). However, analysis revealed no significant correlation with complicated grief. Overall results corroborate meaning reconstruction themes and the importance of meaning reconstruction for posttraumatic growth.

直面至亲离世，往往会引向人类存在的核心命题。丧亲父母不仅要打破自身固有的、被社会广为认可的人生常态认知，更被迫开启意义重构的历程。本研究旨在拓展现有针对丧亲父母样本中意义重构特定主题的相关研究。具体而言，本研究对意义重构、复杂性哀伤（complicated grief）与创伤后成长（posttraumatic growth）三者间的关联展开分析，并特别聚焦于创伤性与突发性离世案例。本研究采用混合研究方法，通过对总计30名丧亲父母开展的深度访谈，对意义重构的两类核心主题——意义建构（sense-making）与获益发现（benefit-finding）——进行评估。研究采用标准化问卷量化创伤后成长与复杂性哀伤水平，随后通过数据转换方法整合质性与量化研究结果。最终从访谈口述资料中共提取出42项意义重构主题。分析结果显示，意义建构主题涵盖从因果归因到关于生死的复杂哲学思考等多个维度。获益发现主题则包含个人成长感悟与社会行动倡议两类内容。研究发现，意义建构程度与创伤后成长得分间存在显著正相关（r_s=0.54、r_s=0.49；p<0.01），在离世为创伤性或突发性的样本中这一关联尤为显著（r_s=0.67、r_s=0.63；p<0.01）。但分析结果显示，意义重构与复杂性哀伤间并无显著关联。整体研究结果验证了意义重构的主题分类，以及意义重构对创伤后成长的重要作用。