Parental grief reactions and marital intimacy following infant death

Abstract

The grief reactions of bereaved mothers and fathers following the death of their infant was examined as a function of their marital intimacy, selected parental (e.g., number of years together), infant (e.g., baby's sex), and situational variables (e.g., sudden death). A group of 57 bereaved couples who lost an infant (>20 weeks gestation and < 1 year of age) within the past 24 months were visited in their home. Bereaved women rated their grief reactions higher than their spouse. The best predictor of mothers' grief was the suddenness of the infant's death. Women whose infant died suddenly rated their grief reactions higher than those whose infant's death was anticipated. For fathers, lower ratings on the various components of marital intimacy, namely, emotional, social, sexual, and recreational intimacy, as well as separation ideation resulted in fathers reporting more intense grief reactions compared to fathers with a more intimate marital relationship.