A LONGITUDINAL-STUDY OF THE GRIEF OF MOTHERS AND FATHERS OF CHILDREN WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY

As a follow-up to a single-point-in-time study which suggested support for the proposition that grieving is an ongoing feature of parenting children with intellectual disability, the present investigation repor ts findings based on annual interviews conducted over a three-year per iod. Longitudinal outcomes on measures used to define grief largely co nfirmed the original findings. Of particular interest were (a) indicat ions of the presence of grief over time (b) the finding that the 49 mo thers and 49 fathers report similar intensity of continued wishing for what might have been, and (c) the conclusion that the responses of th e mothers on the Impact of Event Scale and to current levels of distre ss when thinking about time of diagnoses are significantly more intens e than those of the fathers. Attention is drawn to patterns emerging f rom gender-related differences. Resulted are discussed within the fram ework of four mandates for research and practice, with particular refe rence to psyche-educational support through groupwork.