ABSTRACT
Kinship constitutes a major feature of the relationship with the deceased, which represents a major risk factor for complicated grief. Many of the early major studies of grief-involved widows and the influential Dual-Process Model (DPM) were originally developed with these groups in mind. It reflects the frequency and inevitability of spousal bereavement, with women more likely to be widowed than men. Spousal loss is the most frequent type of bereavement leading to psychiatric referral. Women with no other children have been shown to react more strongly to both miscarriage and even more so to child deaths at later ages. The strength of an attachment and the intensity and duration of the grief resulting from its loss is proportionate to the genetic value of the lost person. Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is likely to induce extreme guilt, anger, and blame in the parents, although mothers and fathers are likely to display discrepant coping responses and dyssynchronous recovery patterns.
