<p>The loss of an only child produces profound, lasting effects on bereaved parents, known in China as shiduers. This qualitative study employed classic grounded theory and analyzed 38 interviews with 16 shiduers to investigate their psychological and behavioral responses over time. The results showed that shiduers occupy dynamic, context-dependent psychological configurations, which we conceptualized as four life states: suffocating, gasping, steadying, and liberating. These states are not sequential stages. Rather, they represent situated modes of existential orientation. Movement between states depends on three transformation mechanisms. Guardianship draws on China’s collective social support system to enable the shift from suffocating to gasping. Stimulus blocking deploys autonomous coping strategies across psychological, social, emotional, and environmental dimensions, facilitating movement from gasping to steadying. Stimulus transformation, through deep cognitive-emotional integration, enables progression from steadying to liberating. Within this framework, life states are temporarily dominant configurations that shift in response to contextual cues and social interaction. The findings extend current bereavement theory by showing how cultural context shapes grief adaptation. They offer a culturally grounded, process-oriented account of shiduers’ lived experiences and lay the groundwork for targeted, culturally sensitive interventions.</p>