Grief And Resilience - Parents Who Lost Young Adult Children
Rejane Dutra Bergamaschi, Anelise Viapiana Masiero, Lilia Aparecida Kanan, Everley Rosane Goetz

Abstract
The present study investigated the processes of grieving and resilience of parents who lost their young adult children. It is an interdisciplinary, qualitative, exploratory-descriptive study. Interviews were conducted with 16 mothers and fathers and then analyzed with the content analysis technique of Bardin (2012). The participants were also asked to make drawings of their family (real versus ideal), with systematic analysis of protocols based on Campos (2007). As a result, most of the parents found that there had been significant changes in family dynamics; they feel difficulty in planning for the future and prefer to live the present moment only. The Family Drawing technique has shown that most participants have feelings of emptiness, emotional maladjustment in the environment, emotional repression to aggressiveness, satisfaction in fantasy and family breakup. As regards the parents’ grieving and resilience, it was found that, in their own manner, they seek ways of coping with their loss and they are still affected by moments of intense pain.

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