BEREAVEMENT EXPERIENCES OF MOTHERS AND FATHERS OVER TIME AFTER THE DEATH OF A CHILD DUE TO CANCER RIFAT ALAM Department of Psychology, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada MARU BARRERA Department of Psychology, Haematology=Oncology Program, Child Health Evaluative Sciences, Research Institute, Hospital for Sick Children and Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada NORMA D’AGOSTINO Department of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care, Survivorship Program, Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada DAVID B. NICHOLAS Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada GERALD SCHNEIDERMAN Department of Psychiatry, Hospital for Sick Children and Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada The authors investigated longitudinally bereavement in mothers and fathers whose children died of cancer. Thirty-one parents were interviewed 6 and 18 months post-death. Analyses revealed parental differences and changes over time: (a) employment—fathers were more work-focused; (b) grief reactions—mothers expressed more intense grief reactions that lessened over time; (c) coping—mothers were more child-focused, fathers more task-focused; (d) relationship with bereaved siblings—mothers actively nurtured relationship with child; (e) spousal relationship—parents reported diversity in their relationship over time; and (f) relationship with extended family—mothers maintained contact with extended Received 14 August 2009; accepted 7 August 2010. We wish to acknowledge the Hospital for Sick Children Foundation and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research for funding this study. Address correspondence to Maru Barrera, PhD, Department of Psychology, Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, ON M5G 1X8, Canada. E-mail: maru. barrera@sickkids.ca Death Studies, 36: 1–22, 2012 Copyright # Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 0748-1187 print=1091-7683 online DOI: 10.1080/07481187.2011.553312 1