Parental grieving after a child dies from cancer: is stress from stem cell transplant a factor?

to investigate psychological distress, family functioning and complicated grieving in parents whose child had died from cancer, and as a function of whether: (a) the deceased child had also received stem cell transplant (SCT) any time during curative treatment; and (b) the place of the child's death (home or hospital).

a cross-sectional case-match design.

Fifty-six Australian bereaved parents in two groups: 28 whose child had also received SCT, matched with 28 (on deceased patient variables) whose child had not received SCT.

parents in the 'SCT group' (n = 28) reported relatively higher levels of depression, anxiety and stress, and - for those whose child had also died in hospital - a greater likelihood of meeting the criteria for traumatic grief than those parents whose deceased child had not received SCT. There were no significant group differences in family functioning.

routine psychosocial screening, especially for families undergoing SCT, may contribute usefully to a proactive model of palliative care in identifying parents at risk for complicated bereavement outcomes.