Family Functioning and Family Typology After and Adolescent or Young Adult’s Sudden Violent Death

This study compared perceptions of family functioning in families bereaved by an adolescent or young adult child’s sudden violent death (accident, homicide, or suicide), parents’ perceptions of family functioning based on parental role, & described the family typologies represented in a population-based sample of parents. Results showed that bereaved mothers & fathers rated their families as more flexible than did a normative sample, & fathers rated their families as less close than the normative group. (32 refs.)