Article Parent–child relationships following spousal/parental death: An application of relational turbulence theory Veronica A. Droser* Pennsylvania State University, USA Abstract The death of a family member is a difficult experience. Although implications of loss are felt on intra- and interpersonal levels, little is known about how it affects the relational functioning of surviving family members, and in particular the parent–child relationship. Using data collected from 144 bereaved parent–child dyads, this study examined how the divergent experiences of spousally bereaved parents and parentally bereaved children impact the parent–child relationship following spousal/parental death. Drawing from relational turbulence theory (RTT), experiences with relational uncertainty and inter- ference from a partner were explored. Findings indicate that parent–child pairs expe- rience different types of relational uncertainty and interference from a partner and that within-dyad disagreement on these experiences can increase the amount of uncertainty and interference from a partner that an individual faces. This study extends RTT and demonstrates its generalizability to the parent–child relationship. Keywords Family death, interference from partners, parent–child relationship, relational turbulence theory, relational uncertainty Grief is a complex experience that threatens people’s emotional and mental well-being (Shonkoff, Jarman, & Kohlenberg, 1987), impedes their social functioning (Wilcox et al., 2003), and compromises their physical health (Shahar, Schultz, Shahar, & Wing, * The author is currently affiliated with Department of Communication, The College at Brockport, Brockport, New York, USA. Corresponding author: Veronica A. Droser, Department of Communication, The College at Brockport, Holmes Hall, Brockport, NY 14420, USA. Email: vdroser@brockport.edu Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 1–23 ª The Author(s) 2019 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/0265407519857155 journals.sagepub.com/home/spr J S P R