Living on behalf of a lost only child: a unique grief coping strategy for China's shidu parents
Yudi Zhang, Wenyi Zheng · 2026
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Description
Zhang and Zheng interview Chinese parents who lost their only child and cope by living life on the child's behalf. Their 2026 European Journal of Psychotraumatology study concerns shidu parents, a group shaped by China's one-child era. Ten parents who use this strategy described it in phone or face-to-face interviews.
Living for the child means doing what the child did, finishing what the child hoped to do, and keeping ties with the child's friends. Parents said the practice restored purpose, steadied emotions, and widened their support circles. It also added life stress for some parents, so balance mattered. The authors describe the strategy as a culturally distinct way of rebuilding meaning after a devastating loss.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Yudi Zhang, Wenyi Zheng |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 39 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |