Patterns of Parenting and their Associations with Bereaved Children’s Maladaptive and Adaptive Functioning

The parent-child relationship influences children's mental health (e.g., posttraumatic stress symptoms, psychosocial difficulties) and adaptive outcomes (e.g., posttraumatic growth, resilience) following the death of a loved one. The current study employed a person-centered approach to identify patterns of parenting and their associations with bereaved children's functioning. This study included 112 bereaved children, aged 8-17 (M_age = 12.41, SD = 2.58; 52.2% female), recruited from community organizations in the MidSouth, United States. A latent profile analysis was used to identify parenting subgroups and examine differences between classes on children's posttraumatic stress symptoms, psychosocial difficulties, posttraumatic growth, and resilience. A three-class solution best fit the data: Passive Parenting (42.86%), Negative Parenting (34.82%), and Positive Parenting (22.32%). Children in the Positive Parenting class reported fewer psychosocial difficulties than those in the Passive (Est. = -8.33, p < .001, d = 0.86) and Negative (Est. = -15.82, p < .001, d = 1.67) Parenting classes; those in the Passive Parenting class had fewer psychosocial difficulties than the Negative Parenting class (Est. = -7.49, p < .001, d = 0.79). Children in the Positive Parenting class reported higher levels of resilience compared to the Negative (Est. = 8.95, p = .015; d = 0.51) and Passive (Est. = 11.44, p < .001; d = 0.69) Parenting classes; no significant differences on posttraumatic stress symptoms or posttraumatic growth were found. Bereaved children whose parents are more involved, prioritize open communication, and use more positive reinforcement strategies report fewer difficulties and more resilience. In contrast, children's trauma-related outcomes following a death were not influenced by parenting patterns and may be better explained by other relational factors.