The Meaning of Bonds: The Relationships Among Grief Rituals, Support From Relatives and Friends, and the Mental Health of Shiduers

Previous studies have sporadically explored the effect of various bonds on the mental health of shiduers (i.e., parents who lost their only child). However, research has rarely classified different bonds to systematically describe their effects. This study administered a self-compiled questionnaire, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, the Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale, the posttraumatic stress disorder Checklist, the Prolonged Grief Questionnaire, the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, and the Adult Dispositional Hope Scale to 466 shiduers. The commemoration rituals that occur soon after the loss predict a lower level of posttraumatic stress disorder. Similarly, the commemoration rituals that occur on special days predict lower levels of depression and anxiety. In contrast, the continuation of commemoration rituals on ordinary days predicts higher levels of depression and prolonged grief. Support from family members and relatives, other shiduers, and nonshiduer friends are all beneficial to shiduers’ mental health.