Factors related to parental distress following the death of an infant

The death of an infant is a severe stressor for the surviving family members. Death of an infant can have long term negative effects on family relationships as well as on the functioning of the individual family members (Carlson, 1993; Najman et al., 1993). Families do not all respond in the same way to the death of an infant. Response to the death is influenced by the strengths of a family or individual. This secondary analysis examined the relationships of three variables, family cohesion, family functioning, and social support, to parental distress. The Family Ecosystem framework, that stresses interaction and interdependence between the individual, the family and the environment, was used to guide the research. The primary sample was 120 parents, mothers and fathers from 60 families, in which an infant had died (Carroll, 1989). The length of time since the death was four months to three years and eight months. Parents were interviewed once in their homes. Each parent completed the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scales III, the Feetham Family Functioning Survey, the Parents Coping Inventory (measuring social support), and the Brief Symptom Inventory (measuring parental distress). Parents who described their families as functioning better were less distressed; parents with higher levels of social support were more distressed. There was not a significant linear or curvilinear relationship between family cohesion and parental distress. Auxiliary analyses indicated that mothers were more distressed than fathers, and had more social support. Time was negatively related to parental distress for both mothers and fathers. The results of this study suggest that family functioning was a moderator for families experiencing a severe stressor, and both time and gender significantly moderated parental distress. Family cohesion did not explain parental distress following the death of an infant. The relationship between parental distress and specific aspects of social support as well as family interactions provide direction for future research.