Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Apr;58(4):503-12.
doi: 10.1002/pbc.23386. Epub 2011 Oct 28.

Systematic review of psychosocial morbidities among bereaved parents of children with cancer

Affiliations

Systematic review of psychosocial morbidities among bereaved parents of children with cancer

Abby R Rosenberg et al. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2012 Apr.

Abstract

The objective of this review was to comprehensively summarize existing studies utilizing validated instruments to measure psychosocial outcomes among bereaved parents of children with cancer. This population has increased risks of anxiety, depression, prolonged grief, and poor quality of life. Parental morbidity is associated with psychiatric co-morbidities, prior loss, economic hardship, duration, and intensity of child's cancer-therapy, perceptions of medical care, child's quality of life, preparedness for and location of the child's death. Rigorous, prospective research is needed to identify risk-groups, define outcomes, and design interventions which will improve parental outcomes after the death of a child due to cancer.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Statement

None of the authors has a conflict of interest to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram of study selection and review.

References

    1. Sanders CM. A comparison of adult bereavement in the death of a spouse, child, and parent. Omega. 1979;10:303–322.
    1. Middleton W, Raphael B, Burnett P, et al. A longitudinal study comparing bereavement phenomena in recently bereaved spouses, adult children and parents. Australian New Zealand J Psychiatry. 1998;32:235–241. - PubMed
    1. Hendrickson KC. Morbidity, mortality and parental grief: a review of the literature on the relationship between the death of a child and the subsequent health of parents. Palliative Supportive Care. 2009;7:109–119. - PubMed
    1. Dyregrov A, Dyregrov K. Long-term impact of sudden infant death: a 12- to 15-year follow-up. Death Stud. 1999;23:635–661. - PubMed
    1. Davies R. New understandings of parental grief: literature review. J Adv Nurs. 2004;46:506–513. - PubMed

Publication types