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Mothers continuing bonds and ambivalence to personal mortality after the death of their child: an interpretative phenomenological analysis

Harper, Mairi; O'Connor, Rory; Dickson, Adele; O'Carroll, Ronan E

Authors

Mairi Harper

Rory O'Connor

Adele Dickson

Ronan E O'Carroll



Abstract

The main objective of this study was to identify how bereaved mothers describe their coping strategies in their own words. The literature on parental bereavement is sparse, and the present study aims to add to existing knowledge by eliciting the mothers’ experiences covering a wide range of child ages including infants, younger children and adults. Semi-structured interviews were held with 13 bereaved mothers in the UK. Causes of death include accident, illness and suicide. The methodological approach was interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). This article reports two inter-related recurrent themes: (1) Continuing the bond with the deceased child and (2) Ambivalence to personal mortality. Participants reported that the relationship with their child was continued in a variety of ways, from tending to the grave and the child’s remains, through linking objects or by establishing a symbolic representation of the child within their daily lives. All mothers talked openly about their own mortality, either demonstrating ambivalence about their own death, or expressing clear suicidal ideation. Death was seen as a release from living with the pain of loss. The presence of surviving siblings appeared to moderate suicidal ideation, but mothers expressed concerns about their ability to care adequately for other family members during times of intense grief.

Citation

Harper, M., O'Connor, R., Dickson, A., & O'Carroll, R. E. (2011). Mothers continuing bonds and ambivalence to personal mortality after the death of their child: an interpretative phenomenological analysis. Psychology, Health and Medicine, 16, 203-214. https://doi.org/10.1080/13548506.2010.532558

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date 2011
Deposit Date May 5, 2015
Print ISSN 1354-8506
Electronic ISSN 1465-3966
Publisher Routledge
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 16
Pages 203-214
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/13548506.2010.532558
Keywords bereavement; parents; coping; continuing bonds; suicidal ideation
Public URL http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/id/eprint/7971
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13548506.2010.532558