TABLE 3.

Benefit-Finding Themes Emerging From the Narratives of Parents Who Lost a Child to Violent and Nonviolent Death

Benefit-finding theme	Coding definition	Total sample (N=155) % (n)	Violent death (n=96) % (n)	Nonviolent death (n=59) % (n)	p a
No benefit	Provided explicit response that no  benefits were related to the loss  experience.	20.5 (32)	22.9 (22)	16.9 (10)	.373b
Help others who have  experienced loss	Discussed actions taken to help  others or desire to help others who  have experienced loss.	20.5 (32)	21.9 (21)	18.6 (11)	.629b
Increased compassion/  empathy/sensitivity in  general	Discussed increases of compassion,  empathy, or sensitivity in general,  with no direct mention of its  relationship to relating to bereaved  individuals.	16.7 (26)	18.8 (18)	13.6 (8)	.401b
Greater appreciation of life/do  not take life for granted	Discussed heightened appreciation of  life, staying in the moment, taking  one day at a time, and/or not  taking life for granted.	14.7 (23)	17.7 (17)	10.2 (6)	.200b
Learned about the pain of loss  and can relate to others	Discussed increases of compassion,  empathy, or sensitivity towards  other bereaved individuals.	13.5 (21)	13.5 (13)	13.6 (8)	.998b
Enhanced spirituality	Discussed increases in spirituality,  faith, or religiosity.	13.5 (21)	13.5 (13)	13.6 (8)	.998b
Benefits to others/society	Discussed how consequences of  child’s death benefitted others  (e.g., organ donation) or society  (e.g., laws passed).	10.3 (16)	13.5 (13)	5.1 (3)	.093b
Relationships strengthened or  developed	Discussed the strengthening of  current relationships or the  formation of new personal  relationships.	12.2 (19)	11.5 (11)	13.6 (8)	.699b
Other themes of personal  improvement/growth	Discussed themes of personal growth  other than those detailed (e.g.,  other than increased sensitivity).  Examples included being wiser,  more patient, and more tolerant.	12.8 (20)	10.4 (10)	16.9 (10)	.239b
Expression of appreciation of  relationships	Discussed increased appreciation of  others or heightened ability to  express appreciation of others  (distinct from mentioning  strengthening of relationships).	7.7 (12)	8.3 (8)	6.8 (4)	1.000c
Changes in priorities	Discussed changes in priorities, or  changes in the importance of roles,  relationships, time spent, or what  is distressing.	7.1 (11)	8.3 (8)	5.1 (3)	.534c
Development of relationships  to other children	Discussed giving birth to or adopting  other children or improvement of  relationships with other children.	7.7 (12)	6.3 (6)	10.2 (6)	.375c
Stronger, improved coping, or  less afraid	Discussed ways in which felt stronger,  that could cope with difficult  situations, or was less afraid in  general or of specific issues, like  dying.	8.3 (13)	4.2 (4)	15.3 (9)	.033 c
Others demonstrated support  and care	Described efforts made my friends  and family following their loss.	3.2 (5)	4.2 (4)	1.7 (1)	.650c
Furthered education or  changed careers	Discussed pursuing classes, higher  education, or a desired change in  careers.	3.8 (6)	3.1 (3)	5.1 (3)	.675c
Lifestyle improvements	Discussed positive changes in life that  include moving, ending a difficult  marriage, etc.	2.6 (4)	3.1 (3)	1.7 (1)	1.000c
Learned valuable lesson or  about something valued	Described lesson learned about life,  death, relationships, etc.	1.3 (2)	1.0 (1)	1.7 (1)	1.000c
Other benefit-finding themes	Described another positive  consequence=benefit not listed;  (e.g., freedom, travel, legacy).	16.1 (25)	14.6 (14)	18.6 (11)	.505b

Note. Numbers in this table reflect the percentage and amount of parents that discussed a given theme. Parents may have discussed multiple themes, and therefore this table details how common discussion of a theme was in the narrative responses.

^aBolded value indicates a statistically significant association between violent death and benefit-finding theme at the p<.05 level.

^bChi-square test.

^cFisher’s exact test (used instead of the chi-square test when the expected frequency in at least one cell was less than five).