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Parental relationships beyond the grave: Adolescents' descriptions of continued bonds

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 October 2015

Dana M. Hansen ,
Denice K. Sheehan ,
Pamela S. Stephenson  and
M. Murray Mayo
Dana M. Hansen*
Affiliation:
Kent State University, College of Nursing, Kent, Ohio
Denice K. Sheehan
Affiliation:
Kent State University, College of Nursing, Kent, Ohio
Pamela S. Stephenson
Affiliation:
Kent State University, College of Nursing, Kent, Ohio
M. Murray Mayo
Affiliation:
Ursuline College, Breen School of Nursing, Pepper Pike, Ohio
*
Address correspondence and reprint request to Dana M. Hansen, Kent State University, College of Nursing, Kent, Ohio. E-mail: [email protected].
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Abstract

Objective:

Many people experience an ongoing relationship with a deceased loved one. This is called a “continued bond.” However, little is known about the adolescent experience with continued bonds once a parent has died. This study describes three ways that adolescents continue their relationship with a parent after that parent's death.

Method:

Individual semistructured interviews were conducted with nine adolescent children of deceased hospice patients from a large hospice in northeastern Ohio as part of a larger grounded-theory study. The interviews were audiotaped, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using a conventional content analysis approach.

Results:

Adolescents continued their bonds with deceased parents in one of three ways: experiencing encounters with the deceased parent, listening to the inner guide of the parent, and keeping mementos to remind them of the parent.

Significance of results:

The ways that the adolescents continued their bond with a deceased parent assisted them in creating meaning out of their loss and adjusting to life without that parent. Our results can be used by health professionals and parents to help adolescents after a parent has died.

Keywords

Adolescent bereavementAdolescent griefContinued bondsMeaning making
Type
Original Articles
Information
Palliative & Supportive Care , Volume 14 , Issue 4 , August 2016 , pp. 358 - 363
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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