A longitudinal study of bereavement phenomena in recently widowed elderly men.
A three-phase longitudinal design was used to study bereavement phenomena in a cohort (N = 78) of recently widowed elderly Australian men. One group of 57 widowers was compared with a second group of 21 widowers on a waiting list. A brief, interviewer-administered, structured questionnaire was used to rate the frequency of 22 self-reported bereavement phenomena. The prevalence and temporal evolution of these phenomena are described. Half of a subgroup of elderly widowers reporting high levels of bereavement phenomena at 6 weeks post-bereavement went on to exhibit persistent or chronic grief at 13 months post-bereavement. The prevalence of persistent or chronic grief throughout the first 13 months post-bereavement was 8.8%. Income, education and expectedness of the death were all negatively correlated with frequency of self-reported bereavement phenomena at 6 weeks post-bereavement. In a multiple regression analysis only expectedness of the death contributed significantly to prediction of the frequency of bereavement phenomena at 6 weeks post-bereavement. Widowers who were unable to anticipate their wife's death, even when their wife had suffered a long final illness, had a more severe bereavement reaction.
Byrne
G J
GJ
Department of Psychiatry, University of Queensland, Herston, Australia.
Raphael
B
B
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001601:Bereavement; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005783:Gender Identity; D006117:Grief; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage / Q000523:psychology; D010552:Personality Assessment; D017805:Widowhood / Q000523:psychology*