TY - JOUR
T1 - Facing the loss of siblings in childhood
T2 - Interactions and dynamics between bereaved siblings and their parents
AU - Chan, Wallace Chi Ho
AU - Leung, Grace Suk Man
AU - Leung, Miranda Mei Mui
AU - Lin, Molin Kwok Lin
AU - Yu, Clare Tsz Kiu
AU - Wu, Jody Ka-Wing
N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by a private donation from the Jetta Company Limited.
PY - 2022/9/1
Y1 - 2022/9/1
N2 - Introduction: The loss of a child in a family is a painful experience. Despite this, most studies focus on the grieving experience of parents. Our understanding of sibling bereavement therefore remains underexplored. This study aims to address this gap by exploring the bereavement experience of younger bereaved siblings from the perspective of the bereaved child and the parents. Method: This study is a qualitative study conducted in Hong Kong. We recruited eleven bereaved families from 2019 to 2020. Semi-structured interviews were conducted separately with bereaved children and parents. Thematic analyses were performed. Findings: Eleven bereaved siblings, aged 5 to 11, and their parents were interviewed. Four themes were generated: Parents' unawareness of bereaved siblings' grief, protecting parents from grief, comparison with the deceased siblings, and learning how to grieve. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the family dynamics and interactions in the grieving experience are complex. The impact of grief on the bereaved child could emanate from the loss of the sibling or from the grief of the parents or from family interactions. Practice implications: This study highlights the importance of viewing the sibling bereavement experience in a family context and of enhancing sibling bereavement services. Helping professionals should not only provide more bereavement support to the bereaved siblings individually, but they should also enhance parents' capacity to support their bereaved children.
AB - Introduction: The loss of a child in a family is a painful experience. Despite this, most studies focus on the grieving experience of parents. Our understanding of sibling bereavement therefore remains underexplored. This study aims to address this gap by exploring the bereavement experience of younger bereaved siblings from the perspective of the bereaved child and the parents. Method: This study is a qualitative study conducted in Hong Kong. We recruited eleven bereaved families from 2019 to 2020. Semi-structured interviews were conducted separately with bereaved children and parents. Thematic analyses were performed. Findings: Eleven bereaved siblings, aged 5 to 11, and their parents were interviewed. Four themes were generated: Parents' unawareness of bereaved siblings' grief, protecting parents from grief, comparison with the deceased siblings, and learning how to grieve. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the family dynamics and interactions in the grieving experience are complex. The impact of grief on the bereaved child could emanate from the loss of the sibling or from the grief of the parents or from family interactions. Practice implications: This study highlights the importance of viewing the sibling bereavement experience in a family context and of enhancing sibling bereavement services. Helping professionals should not only provide more bereavement support to the bereaved siblings individually, but they should also enhance parents' capacity to support their bereaved children.
KW - Bereavement
KW - Children/adolescents
KW - Grief
KW - Pediatrics
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85133711132&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.pedn.2022.07.003
DO - 10.1016/j.pedn.2022.07.003
M3 - Article
C2 - 35817622
AN - SCOPUS:85133711132
SN - 0882-5963
VL - 66
SP - e1-e8
JO - Journal of Pediatric Nursing
JF - Journal of Pediatric Nursing
ER -