Predictors of health-related quality of life perspectives, self-esteem, and life satisfactions of older adults following spousal loss: an 18-month follow-up study of widows and widowers.
OBJECTIVE
The overall purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between widowed persons' baseline assessments of self-efficacy beliefs and their ratings of perceived health-related quality of life, life satisfactions, and self-esteem obtained in an 18-month follow-up.


METHODS
At Time 1, a survey of sociodemographics, a multidimensional measure of global self-efficacy, and a domain-specific measure of self-efficacy, having eight subscales of self-efficacy (interpersonal, instrumental, emotional, social support, nutritional, physical, financial, and spiritual) were administered to a group of 231 widows and widowers to obtain baseline assessments of their self-efficacy beliefs. At Time 2, a follow-up of 211 widows and widowers was conducted to obtain their perceptions of health-related quality of life, life satisfactions, and levels of self-esteem 24 months following spousal loss and to assess whether self-efficacy beliefs play a predictive role in widowed individuals' perceptions of their health-related quality of life, life satisfactions, and self-esteem.


RESULTS
A series of gender-specific multiple regression analyses models revealed that widows and widowers differ significantly with respect to the relationship between specific domains of self-efficacy and their perceived quality of life in the longer term following spousal loss.


CONCLUSIONS
Implications of the findings are discussed for clinicians and health professionals working with bereaved spouses in terms of intervention programs for retraining of self-efficacy.
Fry
P S
PS
Graduate Psychology Program, Trinity Western University, Langley, British Columbia, Canada. Fry@twu.ca
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000416:Alberta; D001601:Bereavement; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011788:Quality of Life; D012649:Self Concept; D020377:Self Efficacy; D017805:Widowhood / Q000523:psychology*