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Shared or Discordant Grief in Couples 2–6 Years After the Death of Their Premature Baby: Effects on Suffering and Posttraumatic Growth

Received March 30, 2007; revised June 25, 2007; accepted June 27, 2007. From the Dept. of Psychiatry, University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland; the Clinic of Neonatology, University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland; and the Dept. of Psychological Medicine, Imperial College of Medicine, West Middlesex Hospital, Isleworth, Middlesex, UK. Send correspondence and reprint requests to Stefan Büchi, M.D., Clinic for Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics Hohenegg, 8706 Meilen, Switzerland. e-mail: Stefan.Buechi{at}hohenegg.ch
© 2009 The Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine

BACKGROUND: The loss of a baby causes severe short- and long-term distress to parents and their marital relationship, but little is known about how this distress is shared between spouses. The authors hypothesized that the grief-related concordance within a couple 2 to 6 years after the loss of a premature baby could be an indicator of shared emotional distress within a couple. OBJECTIVE: The authors investigated the long-term grief experience among couples. METHOD: A group of 44 parents (22 couples) were assessed by questionnaire regarding grief, suffering, posttraumatic growth, and affective symptoms, and semistructured interviews with 6 couples added qualitative information about processes within couples. RESULTS: The extent of grief concordance was found to be related to different patterns of suffering and posttraumatic growth within couples. CONCLUSION: The emotional exchange between partners after the loss of the child appears to be crucial for a process of concordant grief, which in turn is associated with a more synchronous process of individual posttraumatic growth

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