Rouw bij volwassenen na overlijden van een broer of zus, vader of moeder

Abstract

The death of a brother or sister is often taken to have less impact than other types of losses, although siblings frequently report intense grief. Yet, very little research has examined this, particularly among adult samples. For this reason, a research project has been done to explore the variety of reactions to the loss of an adult sibling. These reactions are compared to a group of adult children that have lost a parent. A structured questionnaire that measures grief reactions has been completed by 111 bereaved adult siblings and 99 bereaved adult children. Findings indicate that bereaved adult siblings and bereaved adult children report similar levels of grief reactions. In both groups woman report more grief reactions than men. No difference in experienced social loneliness was found, but bereaved adult siblings appear to be less satisfied with the experienced social support. The research analysis takes into account both the influence of the age of the deceased as well as the time that has past since the loss on the experienced grief reactions. The bias in the participant selection process calls for further research to understand both the sibling grief process as well as how to fulfill the needs of these grievers.