The psychological consequences of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) for the family system: A systematic review

The Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is a tragic and difficult experience for families. It involves not only the death of the baby but also the loss of a future as a parent, sibling or grandparent. The subsequent grief is multifaceted and each family member has different needs and resources. Through a systematic review of literature, we identified 24 studies between 1982 and 2021: they dealt with individual, family and couple experience when a SIDS occurs; in addition, some studies compared perinatal loss and neonatal loss with SIDS loss. Our results point out the need for an intervention that focuses on the needs of each family member and tailored around the specifics of SIDS loss rather than general grief.

The Attitudes of Men and Women concerning Gender Differences in Grief

Attitudes concerning gender and grief were investigated using a convenience sample of 106 men and women ages 23 to 82 years. Participants rated conjugal grief behaviors of target figures for sympathy and appropriateness on the Attitudes Toward Gender and Grief Scale, rated their own sex-role type on the Bem Sex Role Inventory, and provided demographic information and a brief grief history. Results from factor analysis of the Attitudes Toward Gender and Grief Scale showed evidence for the construct validity of the scale by yielding three factors: sympathy, appropriateness of instrumental grief, and appropriateness of intuitive grief. The hypothesis that factor analysis of the Attitudes Toward Gender and Grief Scale would show that vignettes describing gender-stereotypical grief behavior would load positively on factors for sympathy and appropriateness was not confirmed. However, the hypothesis that female participants would give more sympathy to grieving people than males was confirmed. Contrary to expectation, participants did not give female target figures more sympathy than male figures; women did not give the most sympathy to female target figures; and men did not give male target figures the least sympathy. As hypothesized, feminine sex-typed and androgynous participants gave more sympathy to grieving people than masculine sex-typed participants. Findings were discussed in terms of evolutionary, developmental, and sex-role socialization theories.

Fathers’ Perspectives During Pregnancy, Postperinatal Loss

OBJECTIVE

To present information about the father's perspective during the experience of a pregnancy following perinatal loss.

DESIGN

Descriptive phenomenology.

SETTING

Interviews were done in a venue chosen by fathers (home, clinic).

PARTICIPANTS

Ten fathers who had experienced a loss within the prior year and were currently with that partner in a subsequent pregnancy. FOUR THEMES EMERGED: Recognition, preoccupation, stoicism, and support.

CONCLUSIONS

Participants describe the need to be recognized by others. The orderly conduct of their daily lives is disrupted by preoccupation with the pregnancy. They feel unable to share their own anxiety and fear because they want to protect the mothers. Societal pressure to "be strong" and the belief that "men don't share" appear to inhibit fathers from getting support. Strategies to assess and support fathers emotionally at the time of loss and in the subsequent pregnancy need to be explored.