How Do Drug-Death-Bereaved Parents Adjust to Life Without the Deceased? A Qualitative Study

K.B. Titlestad, M. Stroebe, K. Dyregrov

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Knowledge about how bereaved persons grieve can enhance quality in providing the support and potential services that they need. We aimed to identify ways in which drug-death-bereaved Norwegian parents go on with their lives and what inhibits or promotes adaptation during their grieving. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyze 14 semistructured in-depth interviews. We generated three themes: (I) processing grief emotions, (II) proactive coping, and (III) giving and receiving support and assistance. Processing guilt rumination, reflections on blame and a burden of grief emotions characterized grieving early on. Using cognitive strategies and functional-support-giving were found to be the most frequently used strategies. Oscillation between processing stressors and reorientation to the world promoted adjustment to ongoing life. We discuss characteristics of parents who struggle to reorient and outline important implications for policy and practice.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)141-164
JournalOmega (United States)
Volume82
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020

Funding

A special thanks to the bereaved parents for generously sharing their experiences and time.

Keywords

  • coping strategies
  • drug-death bereavement
  • grief
  • oscillation
  • parents

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