Widowhood, Gender, and Depression

A Longitudinal Analysis

Datos Bibliográficos

ID23319644
AutoresGary R Lee, A Demaris (0000-0002-7622-9325, Bowling Green State University)
Año2007
Volumen29
Número1
Páginas56-72
Fecha de publicación2007-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaResearch on Aging (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0164-0275 • E-ISSN: 1552-7573
EditorialSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0164027506294098
OpenAlexW2152005085
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas56
Referencias citadas43

Many cross-sectional studies have found that widowhood is psychologically a more difficult experience for men than for women. However, most longitudinal studies have found either no gender difference or a slightly greater effect for women. The authors attempted to resolve this paradox with data from the first two waves of the National Survey of Families and Households. They found that men whose wives died between the two waves were already highly depressed at time 1, compared with men whose wives survived until time 2. There was no such anticipatory effect for women. Attempts to explain men's elevated depression before widowhood, with predictors involving wife's health, caregiving, and marital quality at time 1, were largely unsuccessful. However, the authors suggest that longitudinal studies that examine change in depression after widowhood may miss the increase in depression for men that appears to occur before their wives' deaths.

Depression (economics) · Developmental psychology · Longitudinal data · Longitudinal study · Marital status · Population · Sociology · Wife · Clinical Psychology · Demography · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving · Medicine · Psychology