# CHILDREN'S PERSPECTIVES ON DEATH OF AN ELDERLY PARENT

> **NIH NIH R01** · MADLYN/LEONARD ABRAMSON CTR/JEWISH LIFE · 1993 · $147,278

## Abstract

The general aim of this proposed research is to examine the effect of
elderly parents' deaths on the lives of their middle-aged children.  The
experience of parental death in middle-age is increasingly normative, but
has received minimal attention.  In particular, we will examine the
effects on both middle aged sons [Ss] and daughters [Ds] of the loss of
an elderly parent (mother[M] or father [F]) who is their last surviving
parent.  The central focus in this qualitative, ethnographically based
study will be the personal meaning of the parental death and the
subjective perception and interpretation of this event.  Interviews will
be held 4 to 7 months after the parental death with the sample drawn
randomly from death records and will include a highly focused set of
open-ended questions and prompts and a set of standard items.  This
represents, as far as we are aware, a unique application of qualitative
interview research to a community based random sample.

The proposed 36-month study has three specific aims.

1. We will examine the personal meaning and experience of the parent's
death by both sons and daughters, employing primarily qualitative
research methods.

2. We will examine the differential effects on middle aged children of
distinctive circumstances prior to elder parental death.  Three groups of
informants (each N=100, total = 300) will consist of local middle aged
children who: 1) were involved in heavy caregiving for their parent; 2)
had a parent in a nursing home during the last year of her life; or 3)
were involved in light or no caregiving.  Each group will have an equal
number of each of 4 parent-child dyads: D-M, D-F, S-M, and S-F.

3. We will examine the death of the parent both as a loss and as a
life-course transition.  We will focus on the personal meaning and
experience of parental death as it concerns (1) the self; (2) family and
spouse; and (3) the past and continuing relationship with the parent.
The proposed research may moreover be considered a "post-caregiving"study
for a subsample of informants.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3122846
- **Project number:** 1R01AG010875-01
- **Recipient organization:** MADLYN/LEONARD ABRAMSON CTR/JEWISH LIFE
- **Principal Investigator:** Robert L. Rubinstein
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1993
- **Award amount:** $147,278
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 1993-03-01 → 1996-02-29

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3122846

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3122846, CHILDREN'S PERSPECTIVES ON DEATH OF AN ELDERLY PARENT (1R01AG010875-01). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3122846. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*