Bereaved mothers' marital status and family functioning after a child's sudden, violent death: A preliminary study

This article reports the findings from bereaved mothers' responses to a family functioning questionnaire (FACES III) over a 20-month time period following a child's violent death. Single and married study mothers' adaptability and cohesion scores were compared with each other. The results showed that married mothers had the highest adaptability scores of the three study groups. Case examples are used to illustrate the complexity of violent death bereavement. Further research is needed to better understand family functioning among single- and married-parent families after the death of a child.