Latent profile analysis of Chinese parents’ attitudes toward death and its association with their beliefs about child death and dying

Chinese parents’ death attitudes influence how they guide children in understanding death, coping with loss and managing grief. This study identified Chinese parents’ death attitude latent profiles, explored influencing factors, and examined the links to beliefs about child death and dying. This cross-sectional online survey, conducted in Beijing from October to December 2024, recruited 507 parents via convenience sampling to explore these attitudes and their correlates. Three latent profiles were identified: Natural Acceptance Predominant Group (28.4%), Open and Inclusive Acceptance Group (13.6%), Fear and Avoidance Predominant Group (58.0%), associated with age, religion, residence, family death-related communication, and other factors. Parents with different profiles exhibited significant differences in beliefs about child death and dying (p < 0.001). These findings highlight substantial heterogeneity in parental death attitudes in China and underscore the need for culturally sensitive death education. Targeted parental support and population-level death education are essential for improving attitudes toward death.