Risk of parental dissolution of partnership following the loss of a child to cancer: a population-based long-term follow-up.

摘要

A common belief is that bereaved parents are more likely to separate than others, but previous research has been unable to settle this issue owing to conflicting findings. Parents of a child with cancer are at increased risk of psychological distress and possibly also marital strain. Sirki et al studied parents who lost a child during active cancer treatment or terminal care and found that divorce was significantly more common among couples with a child in terminal care compared with a child in active cancer therapy. No conclusive studies on long-term marital status in parents having lost a child to cancer have been conducted. Therefore, we assessed parental dissolution of a partnership 4 to 9 years following the loss of a child to cancer compared with parents from the general population.