Qualitative inquiry into the experience of suicide loss, aftereffects and coping strategies of suicide-bereaved Greek-speaking parents in Cyprus

ABSTRACT

Purpose

Studies on suicide-bereaved parents are scarce in South European and Eastern Mediterranean countries. We explored the experiences of Greek-speaking suicide-bereaved parents in Cyprus, with emphasis on the interpretations of their child’s suicide, its aftereffects and their coping strategies.

Methods

A qualitative methodology based on inductive content analysis of the interviews of ten mothers and two fathers was applied.

Results

The participants described their efforts to make sense of the senseless, reporting numerous interpretations of their child’s suicide. Some participants had achieved to move on by trying to keep the remaining family together. Others felt detached from their social network. The different coping strategies and support systems described, reflected participants’ efforts to escape from obsessive, enduring and deeply traumatizing thoughts about their child’s suicide. The analysis mirrored participants’ ultimate desire to find existential relief and serenity through the management of distressing reminders of their child’s suicide, and alleviate the burden of their own negative self-judgement and the criticism of others. They sought physical and emotional comfort in the inner realm of their psyche, through spiritual and psychological coping processes.

Conclusion

Further exploration is suggested about intervention planning aiming to strengthen effective coping strategies and external supportive resources in mourning parents.

KEYWORDS:

• Loss and grief
• child and adolescents
• coping
• qualitative
• suicide

Acknowledgments

The research team wishes to thank all suicide bereaved parents who participated in this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Authors’ contributions

RZ, MK developed the study design, the research questions, collected the data, and drafted the manuscript. RZ, AK, MK analysed the data. RZ, AC, EP, AK, MK contributed to the interpretation of the results and critically revised the final manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Ethics approval statement

The protocol of this study has been approved by the Cyprus National Committee of Bioethics (File number: EEBK/ΕΠ/2017/03).

Data availability statement

The participants in this study did not consent to have their complete transcripts made publicly available after data analysis, as containing personal information for which they could be identified. Despite the anonymization of the interview transcripts, there is always danger of breach of confidence. Therefore, the data underlying the results presented in the study are only available internally, and interested parties are advised to contact the corresponding author. Finally, the authors attest that the manuscripts have the information needed to support the findings of the study.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/17482631.2023.2265671

Additional information

Funding

This study received no grant from any commercial or non-profit organization.

Notes on contributors

Rafailia Zavrou

Rafailia Zavrou holds a PhD in Mental Health Nursing from the Cyprus University of Technology. She has also been trained in Grief Support (Certification Online Training) from Taking Flight International Corporation in Canada. Her PhD thesis focused on the exploration of the living experience of parents who lost a child to suicide. For the last 8 years, she has been employed as a mental health nurse in state mental health services, in both community and hospital settings. Currently, Dr. Zavrou is employed at the Community Mental Health Services in Paphos, Cyprus.

Andreas Charalambous

Andreas Charalambous PhD, is a professor at the Department of Nursing, Cyprus University of Technology. He is the founder and current president of the Cyprus Oncology Nursing Society. Dr. Charalambous has been an EONS executive board member since 2013 and he is currently involved in the RECaN project of EONS. Dr. Charalambous has numerous publications in national and international peer reviewed journals in the topic of quality cancer care, including qualitative studies.

Evridiki Papastavrou

Evridiki Papastavrou PhD, is an associate professor affiliated with the Department of Nursing at Cyprus University of Technology, coordinator and main researcher of the EU COST action project CA15208, ex chair of the Cyprus Regulatory body for Nursing and Midwifery, besides her long experience as an educator, researcher and consultant. Dr. Papastavrou has also been actively involved in the care and welfare of patients with dementia and their families, organizing a series of supportive seminars for the latter.

Anna Koutroubas

Anna Koutroubas MSc, is a clinical psychologist with a master’s degree in Mental Health. She has also had many years of clinical experience in supporting vulnerable populations, specifically children with a life-threatening illness and their families, and grieving parents who lost their child to cancer, among others. Mrs. Koutroubas is also an experienced researcher in qualitative data analysis.

Maria Karanikola

Maria Karanikola PhD, is an associate professor in Mental Health Nursing and Chair of the Department of Nursing, Cyprus University of Technology. She has a clinical experience as a staff nurse in a variety of clinical settings, including mental health services, since 1999. Dr. Karanikola has attained long experience in designing and conducting qualitative studies, mainly in investigating the experiences of clinical and non-clinical, vulnerable populations, as evidenced by the number of her published studies as lead author in international peer reviewed journals. Her main research interest focuses not only on clinical and vulnerable, non-clinical populations but also on mental health issues in community settings, such as workplace and educational institutes.