The Impact of Parental Death on Middle Aged Children

Abstract

There has been a paucity of literature dealing with the impact of the death of a parent upon a middle-aged child, and a number of reasons for this are explored. The quality of the bond between adult children and their parents is examined, focusing on those aspects which tend to strengthen or weaken this tie. Reaction to parental death involves the dialectic between the persistence and breaking of the bond and between the themes of finitude and personal growth. A lifelong theme of anticipatory orphanhood may help to prepare for the impact of parental death.