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MellencampThesis_02.pdf (628.73 KB)
ETD Abstract Container
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Depressive Symptoms Trajectories Following Child Death in Later Life: Variation by Race-Ethnicity
Author Info
Mellencamp, Kagan Alexander
Permalink:
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1563465712524515
Abstract Details
Year and Degree
2019, Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, Sociology.
Abstract
Child death is among the most traumatic experiences a parent can endure. Prior studies have shown that this event is associated with immediate and protracted detriments to parents' psychological well-being earlier in the life course. Yet research examining child death experienced in mid-to-late life is scant. Moreover, no study has considered whether and how the death of a child may influence parents' psychological well-being differently across various racial-ethnic groups. To fill these gaps in the literature, I applied growth curve models to the 1998-2014 Health and Retirement Study to address two research aims. First, I mapped a trajectory of bereaved parents' depressive symptoms before and after child death and compared it to that of nonbereaved parents among adults aged 50 and older. Second, I compared the depressive symptoms trajectories of bereaved black and Hispanic parents to that of bereaved white parents. On average, both mothers and fathers experienced an immediate elevation in depressive symptoms following child death. It took bereaved mothers about 5 years to recover to depressive symptoms levels comparable to nonbereaved mothers' but bereaved fathers never fully recovered. Results from the second aim painted a more nuanced picture. Parental bereavement was equally detrimental in the short- and long-term for white, black, and Hispanic mothers, who all recovered in about 4 years, as well as for white and Hispanic fathers, who recovered in 6 years, suggesting child death is an acute stressor. However, black fathers displayed resilience as resistance to the initial detrimental effect of parental bereavement by reporting a surprising reduction in depressive symptoms immediately following child death. Black fathers who experienced child death reported worse well-being relative to white fathers both prior to and after child death, and even after reporting a decrease in depressive symptoms following bereavement, never reverted to nonbereaved levels of depressive symptoms, suggesting that black fathers' cumulative disadvantages in later life may provide them the coping repertoire necessary to resist the immediate psychological detriments associated with child death. Together, these findings suggest that future research should examine adjustment to bereavement separately by race-ethnicity and gender to unpack any heterogeneity in the short- and long-term outcomes associated with family death.
Committee
I-Fen Lin, Dr. (Advisor)
Susan Brown, Dr. (Committee Member)
Wendy Manning, Dr. (Committee Member)
Pages
87 p.
Subject Headings
Sociology
Keywords
child death
;
race-ethnicity
;
later life
;
depressive symptoms
;
parental bereavement
;
resilience
;
cumulative disadvantage
;
trajectory
;
acute
;
chronic
;
growth curve model
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Refworks
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Citations
Mellencamp, K. A. (2019).
Depressive Symptoms Trajectories Following Child Death in Later Life: Variation by Race-Ethnicity
[Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1563465712524515
APA Style (7th edition)
Mellencamp, Kagan.
Depressive Symptoms Trajectories Following Child Death in Later Life: Variation by Race-Ethnicity.
2019. Bowling Green State University, Master's thesis.
OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center
, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1563465712524515.
MLA Style (8th edition)
Mellencamp, Kagan. "Depressive Symptoms Trajectories Following Child Death in Later Life: Variation by Race-Ethnicity." Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1563465712524515
Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)
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Document number:
bgsu1563465712524515
Download Count:
395
Copyright Info
© 2019, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.