Ej. Bruce et al., GRIEVING RELATED TO DEVELOPMENT - A PRELIMINARY COMPARISON OF 3 AGE COHORTS OF PARENTS OF CHILDREN WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY, British Journal of Medical Psychology, 67, 1994, pp. 37-52
It is argued that a child with intellectual disability represents an o
ngoing source of loss and grief for parents. A developmental framework
was employed to compare three age cohorts of parents. Grief was opera
tionalized within the affective, behavioural and cognitive domains. Me
asures of intrusive thoughts, avoidance behaviours, current emotional
distress over reminders of time of diagnosis of disability, and intens
ity of wishing for what might have been were used, collectively, to re
flect the parents' grief reactions. As hypothesized, the results indic
ate no significant age-related differences in the responses of 58 pare
nt dyads but significant gender-relatd differences. Mothers scored hig
her than fathers on all measures. However, on the Wishing Scale, there
were no significant differences between fathers and mothers. It is co
ncluded that grieving, as defined, is an ongoing feature of rearing a
child with intellectual disability and is more intense for mothers tha
n fathers. Results are discussed within the implications for research
and practice, with particular reference to the merit of programmes and
services which empower parents and strengthen bonds of partnership be
tween parents and professionals.