THE LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF GRIEF ON MARITAL INTIMACY FOLLOWING AN INFANTS DEATH

This follow-up study examined how marital intimacy changes over time i n bereaved couples and how their marriages are affected by the death o f their infant. A group of thirty-one bereaved couples who two to four years earlier had lost an infant (> 20 weeks gestation and < 1 year o f age) were revisited in their home twenty-four months after the initi al home visit. Couples did report a significant drop in sexual intimac y at follow-up compared to before the loss and at the initial home vis it. Moreover, wives reported less emotional intimacy overall, than did their husbands. In contrast to wives whose own initial grief response s predicted their feelings about their marriages two years later, inte nsity of husband's initial grief response did not affect their relatio nship with their wives but, rather a more powerful predictor was their wives' initial reactions, the early state of their marriage (whether they had considered separating), and whether or not they had warning o f the impending death. Finally, there is some evidence that women are affected in part, by their husbands' grief.