The prevalence of PTSD following the violent death of a child and predictors of change 5 years later

Shirley A. Murphy; L. Clark Johnson; Ick Joong Chung; Randal D. Beaton

doi:10.1023/A:1022003126168

The prevalence of PTSD following the violent death of a child and predictors of change 5 years later

Shirley A. Murphy, L. Clark Johnson, Ick Joong Chung, Randal D. Beaton

Department of Social Welfare

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

128 Scopus citations

Abstract

In this study, we examined the violent death bereavement trajectories of 173 parents by following them prospectively for 5 years after their children's deaths by accident, suicide, homicide, or undetermined causes. Using latent growth curve methodology, we examined how the initial level of PTSD and the rate of change over time were influenced by 9 predictors: the deceased children's causes of death, parents' gender, self-esteem, 3 coping strategies, perceived social support, concurrent levels of mental distress, and an intervention offered in early bereavement. Six of the nine factors predicted initial levels of PTSD; however, only parents' gender and perceived social support predicted change in PTSD over the 5-year time frame. Five years postdeath, 3 times as many study mothers (27.7%) met diagnostic criteria for PTSD and twice as many study fathers (12.5%) met diagnostic criteria for PTSD compared with the normative samples.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	17-25
Number of pages	9
Journal	Journal of Traumatic Stress
Volume	16
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022003126168
State	Published - Feb 2003

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The study was supported by the National Institute for Nursing Research, National Institutes of Health (RO1 NR01926, 1991–96) and by small grants from the University of Washington School of Nursing Women’s Health Research (P30-NR04001, 1994–99), and ADEC, the Association of Death Education and Counseling (1999–2001). We are indebted to the bereaved parents who provided data for the study.

Keywords

Accident
Bereaved parents
Bereaved parents' long-term outcomes
Homicide
LGM
Latent growth curve modeling
Suicide
Violent death bereavement

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abstract = "In this study, we examined the violent death bereavement trajectories of 173 parents by following them prospectively for 5 years after their children's deaths by accident, suicide, homicide, or undetermined causes. Using latent growth curve methodology, we examined how the initial level of PTSD and the rate of change over time were influenced by 9 predictors: the deceased children's causes of death, parents' gender, self-esteem, 3 coping strategies, perceived social support, concurrent levels of mental distress, and an intervention offered in early bereavement. Six of the nine factors predicted initial levels of PTSD; however, only parents' gender and perceived social support predicted change in PTSD over the 5-year time frame. Five years postdeath, 3 times as many study mothers (27.7%) met diagnostic criteria for PTSD and twice as many study fathers (12.5%) met diagnostic criteria for PTSD compared with the normative samples.",

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The prevalence of PTSD following the violent death of a child and predictors of change 5 years later

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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