[Parent's grief for the loss of a preterm child]

Abstract

The study takes into consideration the loss of a preborn child and the consequent grief of parents. The Italian nursing literature is quite poor on the subject while international literature show a variability of some phenomena particularly in the first three-five years from the loss. The present research, by a quantitative design and the Hogan bereavement conceptual framework, has considered parents since three years loss. A general socio demographic questionnaire, the Hogan Grief Reactions Checklist (HGRC), and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) have been utilized to collect data. The first instrument has been ad hoc formulated to enrich data, the second explores, by 61 items, 6 factors of reaction to the loss and the third, that consists of 21 groups of statements, measures the presence and the range of the depression. The HGRC has been validated for the Italian utilisation while the BDI-II has been validated in previous studies. Results, in accordance with the international literature, show a variability of different behaviours of explored phenomena for both questionnaires (Hogan's factors and depression). in the first three years of the grief. Parents suffer for the loss of a preborn child and their feelings of despair, disorganization, guilt, detachment, panic and personal growth change by the time from the loss.