Grieving Between the Lines: Expanding Family Communication Patterns Theory Through Parental Bereavement

Abstract

The literature connecting the Family Communication Patterns Theory (FCPT) to parental death is scarce. This thesis argues that FCPT is a viable theory to measure the uniqueness of parental death grief compared to other types of relational loss. The hypotheses and research questions of this study explore the impact of family styles, culture and ethnicity, low conversation and conformity orientation, and the length of grief on parentally bereaved individuals compared to other relationally bereaved people. A convenience sample of 210 (N= 210) individuals was analyzed quantitively using SPSS statistical software (Version #27). Results revealed significant differences in complicated grief for parentally bereaved individuals whose families are consensual compared to protective. Results also showed that parentally bereaved participants who were low in conversation and conformity orientations were more likely to internalize their grief and choose to independently work through their complicated grief. Finally, parentally bereaved individuals are more likely to experience complicated grief symptoms at higher rates for as long as 16+ years after the death when compared to other types of relationally bereaved persons. A discussion that includes theoretical and practical implications provides suggestions for grief counselors and therapists. The discussion also provides future directions for this research, which provides the possibility of using FCPT as a framework to expand Kübler-Ross' (1969) grief model specifically for the parentally bereaved.