Because of systemic changes in mental health treatment since deinstitutionalization, parents have taken on more involved roles for their children with serious mental illness (SMI), even when their children have reached young adulthood. However, the changes in parental roles and relationships with their adult children with SMI, and the grief that stems from those changes, have not been adequately reflected in research or treatment interventions. Studies primarily focus on individual perspectives and neglect the relational nature of grief within a family. The absence of a family perspective in treatment systems leave parents to navigate grief and loss on their own. In this article, we systematically review 12 papers on the grief experiences of parents of an adult child with SMI. Through a thematic analysis of the findings it becomes clear that there is a need for employing a family theoretical perspective to address the inherent relational nature of grief. Ambiguous loss theory provides a relationally grounded model which expands our understanding of parents' grief and gives direction for more effective interventions for families.

中文翻译：

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患有严重精神疾病的成年儿童的父母的悲痛经历

由于自去机构化以来心理健康治疗发生了系统性变化，父母为患有严重精神疾病 (SMI) 的孩子承担了更多的参与角色，即使他们的孩子已经成年。然而，父母角色和与 SMI 成年子女关系的变化，以及这些变化带来的悲痛，并没有充分反映在研究或治疗干预中。研究主要关注个人观点，而忽略了家庭中悲伤的关系性质。治疗系统中缺乏家庭视角，使父母不得不独自度过悲伤和失落。在本文中，我们系统地回顾了 12 篇关于 SMI 成年儿童父母悲痛经历的论文。通过对研究结果的主题分析，很明显有必要采用家庭理论视角来解决悲伤的内在关系性质。模糊损失理论提供了一个以关系为基础的模型，扩展了我们对父母悲伤的理解，并为更有效的家庭干预提供了方向。