Risk taking among bereaved sibling.

Research has long focused on the negative effects of losing a close person. Recent studies have revealed that the meaning of such loss is individual, tends to change throughout one’s life, and could incorporate positive components such as personal growth. The present research was designed to examine the effects of losing a brother who was an IDF soldier on the life of the remaining sibling when he or she reaches enlistment, and whether the loss affects risk-taking tendencies. The bereaved siblings were compared to soldiers who have not experienced loss of a relative.

The research is based on Calhoun and Tedeschi’s (2006) theoretical model which focuses on post-traumatic growth, and takes it one step forward. The original model refers to pre-event personality attributes, which were examined in the current study by optimism and sensation seeking; to bereavement narratives and beliefs, examined through world assumptions and accessibility of death thoughts; to mental distress examined by mental pain. According to the model, all these can lead to personal growth following loss. As mentioned, the present study went one step forward and examined the relationship of these variables to risk taking.

The study examined whether loss generates a more moderate or a greater tendency toward risk taking, or whether there is no such relationship. In addition, an in-depth examination of the origins of risk taking was conducted – sensation seeking, better coping with loss, mental pain, or perhaps a complex relationship among these variables.

One hundred and thirty four young adults participated in the study: 65 bereaved siblings who had lost an older brother during his military service; participants had to be adolescents when their sibling was killed and at least a year after the loss. The control group included 69 participants who had not experienced bereavement, and were matched for demographic attributes.

The findings indicate that death-thoughts accessibility is higher among bereaved siblings, and that they experience more negative life events than their counterparts in the control group. In addition, world assumptions – which refer to the meaning of the world and to self-worth – are less positive among bereaved siblings, their post-traumatic growth is lower, the irreversible mental pain is greater, and the narcissistic pain lower than in the control group.

The groups did not differ on risk taking in general, yet a closer look revealed first, a few significant differences in the correlations between independent variables and risk taking in both groups. Whereas a higher level of optimism was related to lower risk taking in the control group, no relationship was found between optimism and risk taking in the research group. Furthermore, while the relationship between the irreversibility of pain and risk taking was positive in the control group, it was negative among the bereaved siblings. As for the two types of mental pain – self-alienation and freezing – their associations with risk taking were positive in the control group, while they were insignificant in the research group. Second, the bereavement experience leads siblings to report more life experiences and these are related in turn to greater risk taking.

The study reveals a complex relationship between bereavement and risk taking, and that the usual predictors of risk taking cannot be applied to people who have experienced bereavement. The bereaved siblings stated that they must guard their lives and avoid risk, so that nothing happens to them as their parents could not stand another loss. This feeling could place a heavy burden on the young siblings. It is important to continue studying this issue and also relate to it as therapists. The study reveals that the implications of loss linger with the bereaved siblings for many years. The loss that sibling experience often goes unrecognized, and their mandate is to support and protect the parents, a demand that takes a heavy toll on the siblings who are often left alone with their pain.