Abstract
The current report is a qualitative exploration of the ways in which an adult's childhood experiences with death subsequently influence their parenting of their own parentally-bereaved children. Findings stem from semi-structured interviews with a community sample of 41 bereaved spouses, interviews that are part of a broader, longitudinal investigation of the determinants of the impact upon children of parent death. While some researchers have examined how childhood loss globally affects parenting, none has looked at the unique experience of the impact of such early experiences on parenting during bereavement. Moreover, in contrast to most studies of childhood loss which operate exclusively from an impairment-focused stance, this study also documents the long-term competency-building that may result from the experience of bereavement during childhood.
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