Widowed Young: The Role of Stressors and Protective Factors for Resilience in Coping with Spousal Loss

While distressing, late life spousal loss is considered a normative life event and most demonstrate resilient recovery from grief. However, for 5-7% of the population spousal loss comes early, before the age of 50, and little is known about the factors that influence adjustment in this population. We used the DPM integrative framework to examine correlates and predictors of mental wellbeing and grief intensity in an international sample of 603 young widows and widowers. Contrary to existing bereavement research, loss-orientated stressors (e.g., expectedness and cause of death) did not predict bereavement outcomes. Employment and financial wellbeing were the only statistically significant restoration-orientated stressors associated with coping, mental wellbeing and grief intensity. We found no significant associations between parental status and coping or bereavement outcomes. Loss-orientated coping, followed by inter and intrapersonal protective factors for resilience and financial wellbeing were the greatest predictors of grief intensity. Loss-orientated coping was highest in early bereavement, the greatest predictor of grief intensity and associated with being unemployed, financial insecurity and decreased protective factors for resilience. Restoration-orientated coping was highest in later bereavement, was a weak predictor of grief intensity and associated with being employed, increased financial wellbeing and protective factors for resilience. Overall, we found the young-widowed population is at heightened risk of poor adjustment. Almost two-thirds reported decreased functioning, probable depression with high rates of psychological distress. Nearly half met diagnostic criteria for prolonged grief disorder. We discuss implications for research and clinical practice.

Proximal and Distal Antecedents of Funeral Attitudes: A Multidimensional Analysis

This study examined proximal and distal antecedents of funeral attitudes among 436 volunteers aged 18 to 88. Based upon a factor analysis which yielded two factors representing attitudes toward funerals, labeled Pragmatic and Emotional Impact, results suggested a multidimensional structure of funeral attitudes. As hypothesized, for both of these factors, as well as the measures defining them, proximal antecedents (e.g., grief and funeral specific variables) accounted for more unique variance in funeral attitudes than did distal antecedents (e.g., personality and sociodemographic characteristics). Implications for the funeral as an intervention in the larger context of bereavement adjustment are discussed.

Assessing Adults' Difficulty in Coping with Funerals

The death of a loved one requires many adults to make decisions about a variety of details regarding funeral arrangements. Based upon data collected from 348 adults ( M age = 34.21) who had attended the funeral of a loved one within the last year, a scale consisting of 50 items regarding the difficulties each had experienced with regard to events prior to, during, and after the funeral, was developed. Cronbach's Alpha coefficient for this measure of difficulty was .96. Principal components analysis of these data indicated that difficulty in coping with funerals could be understood in light of six factors explaining 56% of the common variance among relationships between items: 1) protocol/mechanics of the funeral; 2) general personal and interpersonal difficulties related to the death/funeral; 3) trust in the funeral industry; 4) concerns regarding the cemetery; 5) issues pertaining to grief; and 6) post-funeral personal responsibilities. With regard to both overall difficulty and the above six factors, older adults experienced fewer difficulties, as did those who more actively participated in funeral rituals. In contrast, those who reported more personal and bereavement-related distress experienced more difficulties. Findings of the current study have value both in identifying persons for whom funerals may undermine bereavement adjustment and in identifying appropriate intervention and aftercare services for such individuals.

Wellbeing in Bereavement and Widowhood

This article will examine how beveavement and widowhood affect wellbeing drawing on psychological, gerontological, and sociological research. The article will begin with an outline of what is meant by bereavement and widowhood. It will then present an overview of the effects that bereavement and widowhood has on wellbeing. In the next section, a brief history of approaches to bereavement will be presented. Next, more recent approaches will be discussed including the Dual Process Model of Bereavement (Stroebe & Schut, 1999), and a discussion of the debate concerning continuing and relinquishing bonds. The focus will then turn to factors which influence wellbeing with a focus both on pre- and post-bereavement experiences, and on such factors as age and gender. Finally, there will be a discussion of factors which may enhance wellbeing, such as resilience, identity reconstruction, and coping strategies.

Continuing bonds and adjustment at 5 years after the death of a spouse

Thirty-nine bereaved individuals completed the Continuing Bonds Scale (CBS), assessing various aspects of the ongoing attachment to the deceased, at 60 months postloss in a longitudinal conjugal bereavement study. They also completed symptom measures at 6, 14, 25, and 60 months postloss. Higher CBS scores were associated with a more elevated grief-specific symptom pattern over the 5-year postloss period. Moreover, those who expressed greater helplessness and less blame toward the deceased during a monologue role-play involving their deceased spouse at 6 months postloss had higher CBS scores. Finally, greater satisfaction in the past relationship with the spouse was predictive of higher CBS scores. The results were discussed in relation to existing literature on the adaptiveness of continuing bonds.