Re-constructing parental identity after parents face their offspring's suicidal behaviour: An interview study

A Juel; A Erlangsen; L L Berring; E R Larsen; N Buus

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.115771

Re-constructing parental identity after parents face their offspring's suicidal behaviour: An interview study

Soc Sci Med. 2023 Mar:321:115771. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.115771. Epub 2023 Feb 11.

Authors

A Juel¹, A Erlangsen², L L Berring³, E R Larsen⁴, N Buus⁵

Affiliations

¹ Psychiatric Research Unit, Psychiatry Region Zealand, Fælledvej 6, 4, 4200 Slagelse, Denmark; Danish Research Institute for Suicide Prevention, Mental Health Centre Copenhagen, Gentofte Hospitalsvej 15, 4, 2900, Hellerup, Denmark Copenhagen, Denmark; Department of Regional Health Research, University of Southern Denmark, J.B. Winsløws Vej 19, 3, 5000 Odense, Denmark. Electronic address: akyn@regionsjaelland.dk.
² Danish Research Institute for Suicide Prevention, Mental Health Centre Copenhagen, Gentofte Hospitalsvej 15, 4, 2900, Hellerup, Denmark Copenhagen, Denmark; Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N. Broadway, S850, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Center of Mental Health Research, Building 63, The Australian National University, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia; Copenhagen Research Center for Mental Health, Mental Health Centre Copenhagen, Gentofte Hospitalsvej 15, 4, 2900 Hellerup, Denmark. Electronic address: annette.erlangsen@regionh.dk.
³ Psychiatric Research Unit, Psychiatry Region Zealand, Fælledvej 6, 4, 4200 Slagelse, Denmark; Department of Regional Health Research, University of Southern Denmark, J.B. Winsløws Vej 19, 3, 5000 Odense, Denmark. Electronic address: lelb@regionsjaelland.dk.
⁴ Department of Regional Health Research, University of Southern Denmark, J.B. Winsløws Vej 19, 3, 5000 Odense, Denmark; Mental Health Department Odense, University Clinic, Mental Health Service, J. B. Winsløws Vej 18, 5000 Odense, Denmark. Electronic address: erikrojlarsen@gmail.com.
⁵ Department of Regional Health Research, University of Southern Denmark, J.B. Winsløws Vej 19, 3, 5000 Odense, Denmark; School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia. Electronic address: niels.buus@monash.edu.

PMID: 36801752
DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.115771

Abstract

Introduction: Parents are affected when their offspring engages in non-fatal suicidal behaviour. Although research exists on parents' mental and emotional state when they realise this behaviour, relatively little attention has been devoted to exploring how their parental identity is affected.

Purpose: To explore how parents re-constructed and negotiated their parental identity after realising that their offspring was suicidal.

Method: A qualitative exploratory design was adopted. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 21 Danish parents who self-identified as having offspring at risk of suicidal death. Interviews were transcribed, analysed thematically and interpreted by drawing on the interactionist concepts of negotiated identity and moral career.

Findings: Parents' perspectives on their parental identity were conceptualised as a moral career encompassing three distinct stages. Each stage was negotiated through social interaction with other people and the wider society. Entry into the first stage, disrupted parental identity, occurred when parents realised that they could lose their offspring to suicide. At this stage, parents trusted their own abilities to resolve the situation and keep their offspring safe and alive. This trust was gradually undermined by social encounters, which caused career movement. In the second stage, impasse, parents lost faith in their ability to help their offspring and to change the situation. Whereas some parents gradually resigned entirely to impasse, others regained their trust in their own abilities through social interaction in the third stage, restored parental agency.

Conclusion: Offspring's suicidal behaviour disrupted parents' self-identity. Social interaction was fundamental if parents were to re-construct their disrupted parental identity. This study contributes with knowledge about the stages characterising the reconstructive process of parents' self-identity and sense of agency.

Keywords: Denmark; Interviews; Negotiated identity; Offspring; Parents; Qualitative research; Suicidal behaviour.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Child of Impaired Parents* / psychology
Humans
Parents / psychology
Qualitative Research
Suicidal Ideation
Suicide* / psychology