REACTIONS TO THE DEATH OF A PARENT DURING MIDLIFE

Interviews with eighty-three adults aged thirty-five to sixty who had lost a parent one to five years previously found that 60 percent conti nued to experience emotional reactions and 44 percent continued to exp erience somatic reactions to the death. The majority also reported cha nges in their sense of maturity, personal priorities, work and/or care er objectives, feelings about their own mortality, and the importance and nature of various social relationships. These impacts generally co rresponded to developmentally significant midlife themes of autonomy, personal freedom, and responsibility.