Adjustment to Parental Death During Mid-life: The Moderating Roles of Attachment Orientations and Being a Holocaust Surviving Offspring

Michal Cohen, Ety Berant, Mario Mikulincer

Abstract


The current study examined how being a Holocaust Surviving Offspring (HSO) and his or her attachment orientation might affect mid-life offspring’s reactions to parental loss. Sample included 146 Israel mid-life adults: 61 who were grieving for their aging parents and 85 non-grieving participants. Each group included HSO and non-HSO who completed attachment orientations and mental health questionnaires. Findings indicated that grieving participants reported worse mental health than non-grieving participants only if their recently dead parent was a Holocaust survivor and they scored relatively high on attachment anxiety. The discussion deal with the mechanisms underlying adjustment to parental death during mid-life.


Keywords


Mid-life Parental Death; Attachment; Holocaust; Mental Health

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References


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