Переживание матерью утраты ребенка

Annotation

The article is devoted to the study of the psychological consequences of child loss for mothers. The loss of a child is considered as a pronounced mental trauma, leading to a loss of life meaning, as well as a deformation of the “I-concept” of a woman. The results of an empirical study of 40 women who lost their child aged 1.5 months to 18 years. The Impact of Event Scale — Revised (IES R; Horowitz et al., 1979, 1996; Russian adaptation by Tarabrina, 2001) was used to assess the severity of traumatic impact. Anxiety and depression levels were evaluated with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS; Zigmond & Snaith, 1983; Russian adaptation by Morozova et al., 2023). A pronounced traumatic impact on the psychoemotional state of the examined women was found, with intrusion symptoms being its most prominent manifestation. Most mothers who have lost their child are in a state of chronic post-traumatic stress with a predominance of intrusion symptoms. Half of the mothers have clinically significant anxiety and depression. It has been established that the severity of symptoms is not related to the mother's age, the child's age at the time of death, or the time that has passed since the loss. The authors propose a strategy for psychological assistance and identify specific objectives.

Keywords

child loss, motherhood, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, psychological consequences, psychological support

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