This study compares patterns of co-residence with adult offspring for divorcées and widows, aged 40 and over, using 1985 Current Population Survey data. Co-residence with offspring is most likely for recent widows in midlife and recent divorcées in later life. Older recent divorcées are less likely than recent widows to be household heads in these living situations. Finally, daughters appear es...

The authors surveyed 997 elderly people living in the community and found that the rate of significant dysphoric symptomatology was 14.7%. Forty-five (4.5%) of these individuals suffered from dysphoric symptoms only, and 37 (3.7%) had symptoms of a major depressive disorder. Eighteen (1.8%) suffered from symptoms of primary depressive disorder and 19 (1.9%) from symptoms of secondary depressive...

OBJECTIVES This study explored the relative contributions of friends and family to the social and emotional well-being of women and men in the first 2-6 months following the death of their spouse or partner. METHODS Three hundred and twenty-eight widowed men (39%) and women aged 50 and older completed self-administered questionnaires that included measures of contact and satisfaction with fri...

Forewarning of Spouse’s Death and Psychological Adjustment to Widowhood Among Older Adults This study examined: (1) whether psychological adjustment to widowhood is affected by the amount of forewarning prior to spouse’s death; (2) whether the effect of forewarning differs for men and women; and (3) the extent to which the effect of forewarning is mediated or suppressed by death context charact...

The impact of widowhood on suicide and accident mortality in Ireland was investigated using Poisson regression analysis applied to routine data relating to all 10 561 suicidal and accidental deaths of married or widowed persons aged at least 35 years in Ireland during 1986-2005. Mortality rates were almost always higher among the widowed and often by a 2-fold, statistically significant differen...