GRIEF, PARENTING, AND SCHIZOPHRENIA

It is argued that a child with schizophrenia represents an ongoing sou rce of loss and grief for parents. The study aimed to (a) validate the presence of grief in mothers and fathers of children with schizophren ia, and (b)explore whether the hours of parental contact with the chil d influences the strength of grief reactions. The mean age (62 years) of the 16 mother-father dyads constituted an investigation of older pa rents, for 43% of whom the duration of diagnosed schizophrenia was ove r 10 years. Grief was conceptualised as a cognitive, behavioural, and emotional reaction to loss, and was operationalized by measuring curre nt intrusive thoughts and avoidance behaviours, as well as emotional d istress over reminders of time of diagnosis. As hypothesised, mothers and fathers were grieving in relation to their child's psychiatric ill ness. No differences between mothers and fathers in intrusive thinking , avoidance behaviours, and distress related to recall of diagnosis we re detected. With the exception of intrusive thoughts, number of conta ct hours with the child was not all intervening variable of mothers' a nd fathers' grieving. (C) 1997 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.