title: Friend and family contact and support in early widowhood.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  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 friends and family, as well as measures of affective (i.e., grief and depression) and self-evaluative (i.e., coping self-efficacy, mastery, self-esteem) responses to loss.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Regression analyses supported the positive features of social support and interaction but particularly highlight the role of friends: ease of contact and satisfaction with friendship support were associated with more positive self-evaluative aspects of loss; greater frequency of friendship help was associated with more negative affective reactions, whereas higher satisfaction with friendship support was associated with more positive affective reactions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These analyses support the voluntary and socializing functions of friendship and social support, bolstering individuals during stressful life transitions, advancing our understanding of the underexamined and particularly distinct functions of friendship in the early phases of spousal loss.
authors.affiliation: Correspondence should be addressed to Brian de Vries, Gerontology Program, HSS 242, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA 94132. E-mail: bdevries@sfsu.edu.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: de Vries
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Utz
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Caserta
authors.forename: Dale
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lund
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000339:Affect; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001601:Bereavement; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D033062:Friends / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D012649:Self Concept; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D017805:Widowhood / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Friendship; Grief; Kinship; Self-evaluation.