Psychological wellbeing in later life: the longitudinal effects of marriage, widowhood and marital status change
✍ Scribed by Kate M. Bennett
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2005
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 59 KB
- Volume
- 20
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0885-6230
- DOI
- 10.1002/gps.1280
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Abstract
Aim
The study examined cross‐sectionally and longitudinally psychological wellbeing in the context of marital status, gender, and age.
Method
Measures were taken eight years apart for three groups: married at both interviews; widowed at both interviews; and married at first interview but widowed at third. Data were analysed using multiple regression models: dependent variables were morale and social engagement; independent variables were marital status, gender and age.
Results
Cross‐sectionally significant differences were found for marital status and age for both morale and social engagement. Both widowed and newly widowed participants reported lower morale and social engagement than their married counterparts. In the longitudinal model, when prior levels of morale were taken into account, only age and being newly widowed contributed significantly to the variance (R^2^). The same pattern of results was found for social engagement. Gender was never significant.
Conclusion
The results illustrate the value of modelling both cross‐sectional and longitudinal data. The latter demonstrated that the size of the effect differed between those who had recently widowed and those who had been widowed for longer. The study shows that age needs to be taken into account when examining widowhood. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.