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In view of the commonly held assumption about a high divorce rate among bereaved parents, a thorough review of literature was conducted to determine what evidence exists. Evidence was found to indicate that a child's death can strain marital relationships, which may lead to separation and/or divorce in some cases; however, there is no conclusive evidence that bereaved parents are likely to divorce as a result of a child's death. On the contrary, it appears that the majority of marital relationships survive the strain brought about by a child's death and may even be strengthened in the long run. The time it takes for bereaved parents to restore their relationship to the level it was before the child's illness and/or death varies depending on the couple and the circumstances involved. The ultimate efects of a child's death on marriage may not be known until after several years have passed. The quality of marital relationship prior to the child's death, cause of death, and circumstances surrounding the death may produce diferential outcomes for the marital relationship. In the process of conducting a literature review, a number of questionable or erroneous citations that professionals made were discovered. In addition to those mistakes, confusion between marital distress and divorce appears to be partially responsible for perpetuating the myth of a high divorce rate among bereaved parents. It is time for professionals to dispel the myth. Recommendations for future research are provided.
The tragedy of losing a child has been reported to produce a great deal of strain in the marital relationship, which may become serious enough to result in divorce. Schiff ( 1977) mentioned in her book, The Bereaved Parent, that some studies estimated that as high as 90% of all bereaved couples were in serious marital difficulty within months after the death of their child (p. 57) and that many couples divorce (p. 67). Unfortunately, no sources of information were provided. Some mental health professionals with whom I talked stated their belief that the rate of divorce among bereaved parents is high. While talking to bereaved parents in recent years, I discovered that information about the presumed high rate of divorce had been widely circulated. Some bereaved parents were alarmed by the rate of divorce...