A multidimensional analysis of bereavement experienced by eighty-four
adult children whose parents died following a stay in a long term care
facility indicated that pre-death indicators of strain (length of sta
y, parent's cognitive status, child's feelings about parent living in
a nursing home, depression) had varying levels of predictive power reg
arding the extent to which the child reported feeling sad, experiencin
g persistent thoughts about the parent, feeling a sense of comfort in
memories about the parent, feeling that the parent was a buffer to the
child's mortality, and having a sense of relief.