What roles does physical activity play following the death of a parent as a young person? A qualitative investigation

Williams, Jane, Howlett, Neil, Shorter, Gillian W., Zakrzewski-Fruer, Julia K. and Chater, Angel Marie (2023) What roles does physical activity play following the death of a parent as a young person? A qualitative investigation. BMC Public Health, 23 (1): 210. pp. 1-11. ISSN 1471-2458
Copy

Background: Physical activity benefits physical and mental health. However, limited research investigates if physical activity can improve outcomes from the grieving process following the death of a parent. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 individuals (n = 8 female; age M = 31.2 years), who had experienced the death of a parent when they were aged between 10 and 24 years old, using retrospective recall. Data were analysed inductively using thematic analysis. Results: Six themes were identified. Physical activity was seen as; 1) ‘Therapeutic’; providing an 2) ‘Emotional Outlet’ and created a strong sense of 3) ‘Social Support’. Alongside it 4) ‘Builds Confidence’, and led to 5) ‘Finding Yourself’ and 6) ‘Improved Health and wellbeing’ (physical and psychological). Conclusion: Physical activity has the potential to provide positive experiences following a parental bereavement. It can provide a sense of freedom and was seen to alleviate grief outcomes, build resilience, enable social support and create a stronger sense of self. Bereavement support services for young people who have experienced death of a parent should consider physical activity as a viable intervention to support the grieving process.


picture_as_pdf
s12889_022_14542_6.pdf
subject
Published Version
Available under Creative Commons: BY 4.0

View Download
visibility_off picture_as_pdf

Submitted Version
lock copyright

Atom BibTeX OpenURL ContextObject in Span OpenURL ContextObject Dublin Core MPEG-21 DIDL Data Cite XML EndNote HTML Citation METS MODS RIOXX2 XML Reference Manager Refer ASCII Citation
Export

Downloads