Title
Parents' Anticipated Discussions About Death With Young Children
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-18-2021
Abstract
Guided by family communication patterns theory and terror management theory this mixed-methods investigation explored how parents (N = 112) of young children (ages 3–6) described the way they would discuss death when it comes up in conversations. Responses were coded inductively, resulting in four themes: explanations that death is inevitable, explanations that death is in the distance, the use of religion to frame discussions of death, and finally, discussing afterlife connections to deceased family members. Logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate whether parents’ conformity or conversation orientations were associated with the frequency with which parents discussed death with their child and the content of parent vignette responses. Quantitative analysis revealed parents’ conversation orientations were associated with the frequency with which they discussed death with their child and conformity orientations were associated with parents’ use of religion and discussing afterlife connections to deceased family members in their responses.
Recommended Citation
Su-Russell, Chang; Russell, Luke T.; Ermer, Ashley E.; Greiner, Csilla; and Gregory, Rebecca, "Parents' Anticipated Discussions About Death With Young Children" (2021). Faculty Publications - Family and Consumer Sciences. 14.
https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/fpfcs/14
Comments
This article was originally published as Su-Russell, C., Russell, L.T., Ermer, A. E., Greiner, C., & Gregory, R. (2021). Parents’ Anticipated discussions about death with young children. OMEGA-Journal of Death and Dying. (Online First). https://doi.org/10.1177/00302228211057735.