The Death of a Child and Parents' Psychological Distress in Mid to Later Life: Racial/Ethnic Differences in Exposure and Vulnerability.

The death of a child is a traumatic life course event associated with lasting psychological distress for aging parents. Black and U.S.-born Hispanic parents are disadvantaged in that they are more likely than White parents to experience the death of a child, and foreign-born Hispanic parents may be disadvantaged by greater vulnerability to distress following child death.