ABSTRACT
Most older people have living children, thus on their death they are survived by middle-aged sons and daughters. It has been suggested that the death of an elderly parent is the most common death of all family deaths. If the lives of older people are of little value to society, then their deaths will have less impact, and the bereavement and grief of the surviving child may be less socially supported. Overall the bereavement process is multidimensional. Major aspects include emotional upset, shifts in sense of self and in the family, a sense of acceptance, and a pervasive tie with the deceased parent. Finally, an increased understanding of parent death may provide a model for the understanding of other family deaths such as sibling, spouse, and child. A number of studies have examined the child's grief, or emotional response to parent death. Parent death has been found to affect the self in a number of ways.
