Parental grieving after a child dies from cancer: is stress from stem cell transplant a factor?

Aim: to investigate psychological distress, family functioning and complicated grieving in parents whose child had died from cancer, and as a function of whether: (a) the deceased child had also received stem cell transplant (SCT) any time during curative treatment; and (b) the place of the child's death (home or hospital).

Design: a cross-sectional case-match design.

Sample: Fifty-six Australian bereaved parents in two groups: 28 whose child had also received SCT, matched with 28 (on deceased patient variables) whose child had not received SCT.