Widowed parents caring for dependent children carry heavy mental health burden

Widowed parents with minor children suffer from a high burden of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress years after the death of their partners, a new study has shown.

Using an online questionnaire, researchers conducted a cross-sectional assessment of 42 parents (mean age, 48.1±5.9 years; 24 mothers, 18 fathers) who had lost their partners 2–4 years prior; all had minor children aged ≤18 years at the time of death. The questionnaire monitored for symptoms of anxiety, depression, grief, and post-traumatic stress.

Parents had between one and three dependent children (mean age, 12.78±4.42 years) living at home. Symptoms most commonly reported were energy loss (83 percent) and chest tightness (45 percent).

Forty-five percent of participants reported having moderate-to-severe symptoms of anxiety, while 40 percent and 33 percent had such manifestations of post-traumatic stress and depression, respectively. Age, the number of dependent children, and time since loss were all unrelated to the burden of psychological symptoms.

On the other hand, important modifiable factors did emerge as significant correlates of mental health outcomes. For instance, having received more information from their healthcare provider regarding the effects of the illness on their partners’ somatic and psychological health correlated with experiencing fewer symptoms of grief rumination (p=0.00), anxiety (p=0.048), depression (p=0.02), and post-traumatic stress (p=0.00).

In addition, less information about where the participants could turn to for support correlated with greater symptoms of grief rumination, prolonged grief, depression, post-traumatic stress (p=0.00 for all), and anxiety (p=0.01).

“This study increases the understanding of widowed parents’ high psychological symptom burden and may aid clinicians in providing effective communication throughout the illness trajectory,” the researchers said, suggesting that “increasing the amount and improving the quality of information provided to patients’ partners should be prioritized in oncology and palliative care settings.”