Predictors of Life Meaningfulness among Parents Losing the Only Child,and the effects of Personal Coping Styles

Abstract

失独不仅会给家庭和个人带来物质和情感的打击,也会严重影响父母的人生意义。以往的研究对于失独父母生命意义感的探讨较少,此次研究对失独父母生命意义感的影响因素进行了考察,包括失独父母的年龄、性别、教育程度、配偶状况、失独原因、失独时间,以及他们的健康状况、社会支持度、应对方式等。结果表明,慢性病、子女意外去世,以及消极的应对方式会显著减少失独父母的生命意义感,而社会支持、社区归属感,以及积极的应对方式则于此有着积极的作用。此外,失独时间越长的父母感受到更多的人生意义。未来的失独家庭服务应针对不同人群的特点,提供支持和参与相结合的服务,以及基于应对理论的干预。 Losing the only child not only brings tremendous negative impacts on families and in- dividuals, but also greatly reduces the life meaningfulness of parents. Although there has been substantial literature on the physical and mental, problems of lost -only parents, research on their life meaningfulness is scarce. This study explores the predictors Of life meaningfulness among lost - only parents, including their age, gender, education, marriage status, lost - only factors, health status, perceived social support, and coping styles. The results indicate that chronieal disease, sudden death of the child, and negative coping styles have negative impacts on the life meaningfulness of lost - only parents, whereas social support, community belongingness, and positive coping styles have positive influences. Furthermore, lost time is positively related to the level of life meaningfulness among the parents. Based on the results, we suggest that future practices and services should be tailored to fulfill ＇the needs of parents with different backgrounds involve both support and participation, and be based on the coping theories.