Understanding gender differences in bereavement following the death of an infant: Implications for treatment

The death of an infant confronts parents with a multitude of difficult chal lenges. Bereaved parents often experience a grief that is unexpectedly perv asive, intense, and enduring. Support from family, friends, and medical pro fessionals is often limited, and most parents rely predominantly on their p artner or spouse for sustained support and understanding. Over time, partne rs often experience increased difficulties in supporting each other due to gender differences in grief and coping, strained communication, and charact eristic patterns of misunderstandings. This article discusses research find ings regarding gender similarities and differences in grief and coping foll owing perinatal loss or loss from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), and regarding marital difficulties associated with incongruent grieving. Also d iscussed: are the impact of social support on the experience of bereavement , typical patterns of misunderstandings underlying many grief-related marit al difficulties, and treatment recommendations for psychotherapists working with individual clients or bereaved couples.