Hubungan Coping Style dan Anticipatory Grief pada Orangtua Anak yang Didiagnosis Kanker

Everyone copes with stressful events in his/her life differently. Three strategies in dealing with stress include problem-focused coping, emotion-focused coping, and religious-focused coping. Death of loved ones has been considered one of the major sources of stress in individuals and poses threat to their well-being and adjustment if ones failed to cope with the grief. Interestingly, previous studies show that families and caregivers of terminally ill patients suffered bereavement prior to the actual death, a phenomenon labeled anticipatory grief. Article presents a study with the purpose to investigate the relationship between different coping styles and anticipatory grief in parents of children diagnosed with cancer. Fifty-five parents, ranging from 20 to 60-year-old, participated in this study. Results revealed that coping style, particularly emotion-focused coping, significantly predict anticipatory grief in parents of children diagnosed with cancer. However, both problem-focused coping and religious-focused coping did not predict parental anticipatory grief in this study.