The death of a family member is a difficult experience. Although implications of loss are felt on intra- and interpersonal levels, little is known about how it affects the relational functioning of surviving family members, and in particular the parent–child relationship. Using data collected from 144 bereaved parent–child dyads, this study examined how the divergent experiences of spousally bereaved parents and parentally bereaved children impact the parent–child relationship following spousal/parental death. Drawing from relational turbulence theory (RTT), experiences with relational uncertainty and interference from a partner were explored. Findings indicate that parent–child pairs experience different types of relational uncertainty and interference from a partner and that within-dyad disagreement on these experiences can increase the amount of uncertainty and interference from a partner that an individual faces. This study extends RTT and demonstrates its generalizability to the parent–child relationship.
AlbuquerqueS.Buyukcan-TetikA.StroebeM.SchutH.NarcisoI.PereiraM.FinkenauerC. (2017). Meaning and coping orientation of bereaved parents: Individual and dyadic processes. Plos One, 12, 1932–6203. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0178861
2.
BoelenP. (2010). Intolerance of uncertainty and emotional distress following the death of a loved one. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 23, 471–478. doi:10.1080/10615800903494135
3.
BosticcoC.ThompsonT. (2005). The role of communication and story telling in the family grieving system. Journal of Family Communication, 5, 255–278. doi:10.1207/s15327698jfc0504_2
4.
BrentD.MelhemN.DonohoeM. B.WalkerM. (2009). The incidence and course of depression in bereaved youth 21 months after the loss of a parent to suicide, accident, or sudden natural death. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 166, 786–794. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2009.08081244
5.
BulmerM. (1979). Concepts in the analysis of qualitative data. The Sociological Review, 27, 651–677. doi:10.1111/j.1467-954x.1979.tb00354.x
6.
Buyukcan-TetikA.FinkenauerC.SchutH.StroebeM.StroebeW. (2017). The impact of bereaved parents’ perceived grief similarity on relationship satisfaction. Journal of Family Psychology, 31, 409–419. doi:10.1037/fam0000252
7.
CarmonA. F.WesternK. J.MillerA. N.PearsonJ. C.FowlerM. R. (2010). Grieving those we’ve lost: An examination of family communication patterns and grief reactions. Communication Research Reports, 27, 253–262. doi:10.1080/08824096.2010.496329
8.
CreswellJ. W.Plano ClarkV. L. (2011). Designing and conducting mixed methods research (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
9.
GreeffA. P.HumanB. (2004). Resilience in families in which a parent has died. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 32, 27–42. doi:10.1080/01926180490255765
10.
HahnE. A.CichyK. E.SmallB. J.AlmeidaD. M. (2014). Daily emotional and physical reactivity to stressors among widowed and married older adults. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 69, 19–28. doi:10.1093/geronb/gbt035
11.
HopeR. M.HodgeD. M. (2006). Factors affecting children’s adjustment to the death of a parent: The social work professional’s viewpoint. Child Adolescent Social Work, 23, 107–126. doi:10.1007/s10560-006-0045-x
12.
KeeleyM. P. (2017). Family communication at the end of life. Behavioral Science, 7, 45. doi:10.3390/bs7030045
13.
KennyD. A.KashyD. A.CookW. L. (2006). Dyadic data analysis. New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
14.
KlineR. B. (2005). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. London, UK: Guilford Press.
15.
KnoblochL. K.Knobloch-FeddersL. M.YorgasonJ. B.EbataA. T.McGlaughlinP. C. (2017). Military children’s difficulty with reintegration after deployment: A relational turbulence model perspective. Journal of Family Psychology, 31, 542–552. doi:10.1037/fam0000299
16.
KnoblochL. K.SolomonD. H. (1999). Measuring the sources and content of relational uncertainty. Communication Studies, 50, 261–278. doi:10.1080/10510979909388499
17.
KnoblochL. K.TheissJ. A. (2010). An actor—partner interdependence model of relational turbulence: Cognitions and emotions. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 27, 595–619. doi:10.1177/0265407510368967
18.
KnoblochL. K.TheissJ. A. (2012). Experiences of U.S. military couples during the post-deployment transition: Applying the relational turbulence model. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 29, 423–450. doi:10.1177/0265407511431186
19.
KoernerA. F.FitzpatrickM. A. (2002). Toward a theory of family communication. Communication Theory, 12, 70–91. doi:10.1093/ct/12.1.70
20.
McBrideJ.SimmsS. (2001). Death in the family: Adapting a family systems framework to the grief process. American Journal of Family Therapy, 29, 59–73. doi:10.1080/019261801750182414
21.
McLarenR. M.SolomonD. H. (2014). Victim and perpetrator accounts of hurtful messages: An actor–partner interdependence model. Human Communication Research, 40, 291–308. doi:10.1111/hcre.12031
22.
NagyM. E.TheissJ. A. (2013). Applying the relational turbulence model to the empty-nest transition: Sources of relationship change, relational uncertainty, and interference from partners. Journal of Family Communication, 13, 280–300. doi:10.1080/15267431.2013.823430
23.
NeimeyerR. A.PrigersonH. G.DaviesB. (2002). Mourning and meaning. American Behavioral Scientist, 46, 235–251. doi:10.1177/000276402236676
24.
RitchieL. D.FitzpatrickM. A. (1990). Family communication patterns: Measuring intrapersonal perceptions of interpersonal relationships. Communication Research, 17, 523–544. doi:10.1177/009365090017004007
25.
ScheinfeldE.WorleyT. (2018). Understanding the parent-child relationship during the transition into college and emerging adulthood using the relational turbulence theory. Communication Quarterly, 66, 444–462. doi:10.1080/01463373.2018.1443954
26.
SedneyM. A.BakerJ. E.GrossE. (1994). “The story” of a death: Therapeutic considerations with bereaved families. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 20, 287–296. doi:10.1111/j.1752-0606.1994.tb00116.x
27.
ShaharD. R.SchultzR.ShaharA.WingR. R. (2001). The effect of widowhood on weight change, dietary intake, and eating behavior in the elderly population. Journal of Aging and Health, 13, 186–199. doi:10.1177/089826430101300202
28.
ShonkoffJ. P.JarmanF. C.KohlenbergT. M. (1987). Family transitions, crises, and adaptations. Current Problems in Pediatrics, 17, 507–553. doi:10.1016/0045-9380(87)90017-x
29.
SolomonD. H.KnoblochL. K. (2001). Relationship uncertainty, partner interference, and intimacy within dating relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 18, 804–820. doi:10.1177/0265407501186004
30.
SolomonD. H.KnoblochL. K. (2004). A model of relational turbulence: The role of intimacy, relational uncertainty, and interference from partners in appraisals of irritations. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 21, 795–816. doi:10.1177/0265407504047838
31.
SolomonD. H.KnoblochL. K.TheissJ. A.McLarenR. M. (2016). Relational turbulence theory: Explaining variation in subjective experiences and communication within romantic relationships. Human Communication Research, 42, 507–532. doi:10.1111/hcre.12091
32.
SolomonD. H.TheissJ. A. (2008). A longitudinal test of the relational turbulence model of romantic relationship development. Personal Relationships, 15, 339–357. doi:10.1111/j.1475-6811.2008.00202.x
33.
SteuberK. R.SolomonD. H. (2008). Relational uncertainty, partner interference, and infertility: A qualitative study of discourse within online forums. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 25, 831–855. doi:10.1177/0265407508096698
34.
SteuberK. R.SolomonD. H. (2011). Factors that predict married partners’ disclosures about infertility to social network members. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 39, 250–270. doi:10.1080/00909882.2011.585401
35.
StraussA.CorbinJ. (1990). Basics of qualitative research (Vol. 15). Newbury Park, CA: SAGE.
36.
TheissJ. A.CarpenterA. M.LeustekJ. (2016). Partner facilitation and partner interference in individuals’ weight loss goals. Qualitative Health Research, 26, 1318–1330. doi:10.1177/1049732315583980
37.
TheissJ. A.KnoblochL. K. (2009). An actor-partner interdependence model of irritations in romantic relationships. Communication Research, 36, 510–537. doi:10.1177/0093650209333033
38.
TheissJ. A.NagyM. E. (2010). Actor-partner effects in the associations between relationship characteristics and reactions to marital sexual intimacy. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 27, 1089–1109. doi:10.1177/0265407510381254
39.
TollerP. W.McBrideM. C. (2013). Enacting privacy rules and protecting disclosure recipients: Parents’ communication with children following the death of a family member. Journal of Family Communication, 13, 32–45. doi:10.1080/15267431.2012.742091
40.
TraylorE. S.HayslipB.KaminskP. L.YorkC. (2003). Relationships between grief and family system characteristics: A cross lagged longitudinal analysis. Death Studies, 27, 575–601. doi:10.1080/07481180302897
41.
WalterC. A.McCoydJ. L. M. (2016). Grief and loss across the lifespan: A biopsychosocial perspective (2nd ed.). New York: Springer Publishing Company.
42.
Werner-LinA.BiankN. M.RubensteinB. (2009). There’s no place like home: Preparing children for geographical and relational attachment disruptions following parental death to cancer. Clinical Social Work, 38, 132–143. doi:10.1007/s10615-009-0233-1
43.
WilcoxS.EvensonK. R.AragakiA.Wassertheil-SmollerS.MoutonC. P.LoevingerB. L. (2003). The effects of widowhood on physical and mental health, health behaviors, and health outcomes: The women’s health initiative. Health Psychology, 22, 513–522. doi:10.1037/0278-6133.22.5.513
44.
WolchikS. A.MaY.TeinJ. Y.SandlerI. N.AyersT. S. (2008). Parentally bereaved children’s grief: Self-system beliefs as mediators of the relations between grief and stressors and caregiver–child relationship quality. Death Studies, 32, 597–620. doi:10.1080/07481180802215551
