IMPACT OF ELDERLY MOTHERS DEATH ON MIDDLE-AGE DAUGHTERS

Daughters' responses to an elderly mother's death are found to be mult idimensional. In the first six months of bereavement many daughters ex perience themes of both holding on and letting go. Measured were depre ssion, grief, somatic reactions, as well as impact on the sense of sel f, degree of acceptance of the death, and ways in which the tie with t he mother endures. Though many of these reactions are intercorrelated, they are differentially associated with characteristics of the daught er, mother, and the quality of their relationship. Relatively sudden d eaths were associated with more intense grief, less acceptance, and mo re thoughts of reunion than deaths that occurred in a nursing home.