Experiencing the Loss of an Adult Child in Old Age

<p>Parental grief is associated with many collateral losses and severe consequences at the mental, physical, and social levels. Most studies of parental loss are concentrated in the area of infant mortality, while increasing life expectancy entails an increase in the number of cases...

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Main Author: A.A. Agisheva
Format: Article
Language:Russian
Published: Moscow State University of Psychology and Education 2025-01-01
Series:Клиническая и специальная психология
Online Access:https://psyjournals.ru/en/journals/cpse/archive/2024_n4/Agisheva
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author A.A. Agisheva
author_facet A.A. Agisheva
author_sort A.A. Agisheva
collection DOAJ
description <p>Parental grief is associated with many collateral losses and severe consequences at the mental, physical, and social levels. Most studies of parental loss are concentrated in the area of infant mortality, while increasing life expectancy entails an increase in the number of cases of adult child loss among older people. Anamneses of elderly people are often burdened by cumulative psychotraumatization, somatic and mental disorders. At the same time, older subjects have a wider range of coping strategies available. This review examines the consequences of the superposition of the factors of the severity of the stressor under study and the pronounced gerontogenetic diversity. Based on the analysis of 76 literary sources, a comparison and specification of the empirical research results were carried out, which preliminary revealed universal psychological consequences of losing a child at an older age, including a sense of guilt, a feeling of abnormality of what happened, complication of the age crisis, deformation of the "Self-concept", chronification of grief. Specific tendencies in the course of grief due to the type of loss are systematically described. Loss of a violent nature is the most traumatic in comparison with loss due to an unfavorable outcome of the disease and is accompanied by the desire of parents to take revenge, restore justice. Losses of children performing official duties during military operations are associated with extremely high ambivalence of experiences, while losses associated with emergency situations are associated with survivor's guilt. Illegal grief (death due to a stigmatized disease, suicide, violation of the law, substance use) is burdened by shame, which prevents getting help. The study points out the need for empirical clarification of the data obtained and has practical value, specifying the targets of providing psychotherapeutic assistance to grieving elderly parents.</p>
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spelling doaj-art-32c4a60f84d54a08a460b25600fcf24a2025-02-04T19:21:39ZrusMoscow State University of Psychology and EducationКлиническая и специальная психология2304-03942025-01-01134517510.17759/cpse.2024130403Experiencing the Loss of an Adult Child in Old AgeA.A. Agisheva0https://orcid.org/0009-0001-9838-9813Institute of Psychology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IP RAS) <p>Parental grief is associated with many collateral losses and severe consequences at the mental, physical, and social levels. Most studies of parental loss are concentrated in the area of infant mortality, while increasing life expectancy entails an increase in the number of cases of adult child loss among older people. Anamneses of elderly people are often burdened by cumulative psychotraumatization, somatic and mental disorders. At the same time, older subjects have a wider range of coping strategies available. This review examines the consequences of the superposition of the factors of the severity of the stressor under study and the pronounced gerontogenetic diversity. Based on the analysis of 76 literary sources, a comparison and specification of the empirical research results were carried out, which preliminary revealed universal psychological consequences of losing a child at an older age, including a sense of guilt, a feeling of abnormality of what happened, complication of the age crisis, deformation of the "Self-concept", chronification of grief. Specific tendencies in the course of grief due to the type of loss are systematically described. Loss of a violent nature is the most traumatic in comparison with loss due to an unfavorable outcome of the disease and is accompanied by the desire of parents to take revenge, restore justice. Losses of children performing official duties during military operations are associated with extremely high ambivalence of experiences, while losses associated with emergency situations are associated with survivor's guilt. Illegal grief (death due to a stigmatized disease, suicide, violation of the law, substance use) is burdened by shame, which prevents getting help. The study points out the need for empirical clarification of the data obtained and has practical value, specifying the targets of providing psychotherapeutic assistance to grieving elderly parents.</p>https://psyjournals.ru/en/journals/cpse/archive/2024_n4/Agisheva
spellingShingle A.A. Agisheva
Experiencing the Loss of an Adult Child in Old Age
Клиническая и специальная психология
title Experiencing the Loss of an Adult Child in Old Age
title_full Experiencing the Loss of an Adult Child in Old Age
title_fullStr Experiencing the Loss of an Adult Child in Old Age
title_full_unstemmed Experiencing the Loss of an Adult Child in Old Age
title_short Experiencing the Loss of an Adult Child in Old Age
title_sort experiencing the loss of an adult child in old age
url https://psyjournals.ru/en/journals/cpse/archive/2024_n4/Agisheva
work_keys_str_mv AT aaagisheva experiencingthelossofanadultchildinoldage