Re-constructing parental identity after parents face their offspring's suicidal behaviour: An interview study

Introduction: Parents are affected when their offspring engages in non-fatal suicidal behaviour. Although research exists on parents' mental and emotional state when they realise this behaviour, relatively little attention has been devoted to exploring how their parental identity is affected. Purpose: To explore how parents re-constructed and negotiated their parental identity after realising that their offspring was suicidal.Method: A qualitative exploratory design was adopted. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 21 Danish parents who self-identified as having offspring at risk of suicidal death. Interviews were transcribed, analysed thematically and interpreted by drawing on the interactionist concepts of negotiated identity and moral career.Findings: Parents' perspectives on their parental identity were conceptualised as a moral career encompassing three distinct stages. Each stage was negotiated through social interaction with other people and the wider so-ciety. Entry into the first stage, disrupted parental identity, occurred when parents realised that they could lose their offspring to suicide. At this stage, parents trusted their own abilities to resolve the situation and keep their offspring safe and alive. This trust was gradually undermined by social encounters, which caused career movement. In the second stage, impasse, parents lost faith in their ability to help their offspring and to change the situation. Whereas some parents gradually resigned entirely to impasse, others regained their trust in their own abilities through social interaction in the third stage, restored parental agency.Conclusion: Offspring's suicidal behaviour disrupted parents' self-identity. Social interaction was fundamental if parents were to re-construct their disrupted parental identity. This study contributes with knowledge about the stages characterising the reconstructive process of parents' self-identity and sense of agency.

Automated summary

This study explores how parents reconstruct and negotiate their parental identity after realizing that their offspring is suicidal. Through interviews with 21 Danish parents, it is found that parents' perspectives on their parental identity can be conceptualized as a moral career consisting of three distinct stages. These stages are negotiated through social interaction and play a crucial role in the re-construction of parental identity and sense of agency.