How Adolescent Females Deal with the Death of Their Mothers to the Progressive Terminal Illness, Cancer
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Authors
O'Griffin, Molly
Issue Date
2004
Type
Dissertation
Language
en
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
The loss of a mother in an adolescent female's life is a traumatic experience. Of interest to the research is the exploration of the grief process, coping mechanisms, responses to stress, and psychological well-being. Research participants included a total of eight women: four African American women and four Caucasian women who had lost their mothers to cancer when they were between the ages of 18 and 22. A qualitative research design using grounded theory methodology was utilized for both data collection and analysis . Results from this study suggest that the ability to successfully deal with this type of loss depends on family connectedness, a supportive environment, acquiring an ongoing sense of connection, and becoming able to continue living productively in spite of traumatic life events . The psychological community and the medical community must intervene in the time immediately following the death of a mother to successfully utilize crisis intervention techniques. This will equip the adolescent with tools for coping successfully with this loss over her lifetime.