The impact of widowhood on depression: Findings from a prospective survey

Psychological Medicine

Volumn 29, Issue 5, 1999, Pages 1111-1123

  Carnelley, Katherine B ^a   Wortman, C B ^b   Kessler, R C ^b  

^a CARDIFF UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

^b NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ADULT; AGED; ARTICLE; BEREAVEMENT; CONTROLLED STUDY; DEPRESSION; FEMALE; HUMAN; HUMAN EXPERIMENT; INTERVIEW; NORMAL HUMAN; SPOUSE; TIME; UNITED STATES; WIDOW;

ADAPTATION, PSYCHOLOGICAL; AGED; BEREAVEMENT; DATA COLLECTION; DEPRESSIVE DISORDER; FEMALE; HUMANS; MIDDLE AGED; PROSPECTIVE STUDIES; WIDOWHOOD;

EID: 0032862794     PISSN: 00332917     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0033291799008971     Document Type: Article

References (69)

1. American Psychiatric Association (1987). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 3rd edn.-Revised. (DSM-III-R). American Psychiatric Association: Washington, DC.
2. Ball, J. F. (1977). Widow's grief: the impact of age and mode of death. Omega 7, 307-333.
3. Bodnar, J. C. & Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K. (1994). Caregiver depression after bereavement: chronic stress isn't over when it's over. Psychology and Aging 9, 372-380.
4. Bornstein, P. E., Clayton, P. J., Halikas, J. A., Maurice, W. L. & Robins, E. (1973). The depression of widowhood after thirteen months. British Journal of Psychiatry 122, 561-566.
5. Boyd, J. H. & Weissman, M. M. (1982). Screening for depression in a community sample. Archives of General Psychiatry 39, 1195-1200.
6. Bruce, M. L., Kim, K., Leaf, P. J. & Jacobs, S. (1990). Depressive episodes and dysophoria resulting from conjugal bereavement in a prospective community sample. American Journal of Psychiatry 147, 608-611.
7. Carey, R. G. (1977). The widowed: a year later. Journal of Counseling Psychology 24, 125-131.
8. Caserta, M. S., Lund, D. A. & Dimond, M. F. (1989). Older widows' early bereavement adjustments. Journal of Women and Aging 1, 5-27.
9. Clayton, P. J., Halikas, J. A. & Maurice, W. L. (1972). The depression of widowhood. British Journal of Psychiatry 120, 71-78.
10. Costa, P. T., Jr. & McCrae, R. R. (1985). The NEO Personality Inventory. Psychological Assessment Resources: Odessa, FL.
11. Craig, T. J. & Van Natta, P. (1979). Influence of demographic characteristics on two measures of depressive symptoms. Archives of General Psychiatry 36, 149-154.
12. Crisp, A. H. & Priest, R. G. (1968). Psychoneurotic status during the year following bereavement. Journal of Psychosomatic Research 16, 351-355.
13. Elliot, C. L. & Greene, R. L. (1992). Clinical depression and implicit memory. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 101, 572-574.
14. Endicott, J., Andreasen, N. & Spitzer, R. L. (1978). Family History Research Diagnostic Criteria. Biometrics Research, New York State Psychiatric Institute: New York.
15. Folkman, S., Chesney, M., Collette, L., Bocellari, A. & Cooke, M. (1996). Postbereavement depressive mood and its prebereavement predictors in HIV+ and HIV-gay men. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 70, 336-348.
16. Futterman, A., Gallagher, D., Thompson, L. W., Lovett, S. & Gilewski, M. (1990). Retrospective assessment of marital adjustment and depression during the first 2 years of spousal bereavement. Psychology and Aging 5, 277-283.
17. Gallagher, D. E., Breckenridge, J. N., Thompson, L. W. & Peterson, J. A. (1983). Effects of bereavement on indicators of mental health in elderly widows and widowers. Journal of Gerontology 38, 565-571.
18. Gerber, I., Wiener, A., Battin, D. & Arkin, A. (1975). Brief therapy to the aged bereaved. In Bereavement : Its Psychosocial Aspects (ed. B. Shoenberg and I. Gerber), pp. 310-333. Columbia University Press: New York.
19. Harlow, S.D., Goldberg, E. L. & Comstock, G. W. (1991). A longitudinal study of the prevalence of depressive symptomatology in elderly widowed and married women. Archives of General Psychiatry 48, 1065-1068.
20. Hays, J. C., Kasl, S. & Jacobs, S. (1994a). Past personal history of dysphoria, social support, and psychological distress following conjugal bereavement. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 42, 712-718.
21. Hays, J. C., Kasl, S.V. & Jacobs, S. C. (1994b). The course of psychological distress following threatened and actual conjugal bereavement. Psychological Medicine 24, 917-927.
22. Heston, L. L. (1988). What about environment? In Relatives at Risk for Mental Disorder (ed. D. L. Dunner, E. S. Gershon and J. E. Barrett), pp. 205-213. Raven Press: New York.
23. Heyman, D. K. & Gianturco, D. T. (1973). Long-term adaptation by the elderly to bereavement. Journal of Gerontology 28, 359-362.
24. Hill, C. D., Thompson, L. W. & Gallagher, D. (1988). The role of anticipatory bereavement in older women's adjustment to widowhood. Gerontologist 28, 792-796.
25. Hirschfeld, R. M. A., Klerman, G. L., Lavori, P., Keller, M. B., Griffith, P. & Coryell, W. (1989). Premorbid personality assessments of first onset of major depression. Archives of General Psychiatry 46, 345-350.
26. House, J. S., Kessler, R. C., Herzog, A. R., Mero, R. P., Kinney, A. M. & Breslow, M. J. (1990). Age, socioeconomic status, and health. Milbank Quarterly 68, 383-411.
27. Irwin, M., Daniels, M., Smith, T. L., Bloom, E. & Weiner, H. (1987). Impaired natural killer cell activity during bereavement. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity 1, 98-104.
28. Jacobs, S. (1993). Pathologic Grief: Maladaptation to Loss. Washington DC: American Psychiatric Press: Washington, DC.
29. Jacobs, S., Hansen, F., Berkman, L., Kasl, S. & Ostfeld, A. (1989). Depressions of bereavement. Comprehensive Psychiatry 30, 218-224.
30. Jacobs, S. C., Mason, J. W., Kosten, T. R., Wahby, V., Kasl, S. V. & Ostfeld, A. M. (1986). Bereavement and catecholamines. Journal of Psychosomatic Research 30, 489-496.
31. Kessler, R. C. & McLeod, J. D. (1984). Sex differences in vulnerability to undesirable life events. American Sociological Review 49, 620-631.
32. Kessler, R. C., House, J. S. & Turner, J. B. (1987). Unemployment and health in a community sample. Journal of Health and Social Behavior 28, 51-59.
33. Kohout, F. J., Berkman, L. F., Evans, D. A. & Cornoni-Huntley, J. (1993). Two shorter forms of the CES-D Depression Symptoms Index. Journal of Aging and Health 5, 179-193.
34. Lazarus, R. S. & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, Appraisal, and Coping. Springer: New York.
35. Lehman, D. R., Wortman, C. B. & Williams, A. F. (1987). Long-term effects of losing a spouse or child in a motor vehicle crash. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 52, 218-231.
36. Lichtenstein, P., Gatz, M., Pedersen, N. L., Berg, S. & McClearn, G. E. (1996). A co-twin-control study of response to widowhood. Journal of Gerontology 51B, 279-289.
37. Lund, D. A., Dimond, M. F., Caserta, M. S., Johnson, R. J., Poulton, J. L. & Connelly, J. R. (1985-86). Identifying elderly with coping difficulties after two years of bereavement. Omega 16, 213-224.
38. Lund, D. A., Caserta, M. S. & Dimond, M. F. (1993). The course of spousal bereavement in later life. In Handbook of Bereavement: Theory, Research and Intervention (ed. M. S. Stroebe, W. Stroebe and R. O. Hansson), pp. 240-254. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.
39. Lundin, T. (1984). Morbidity following sudden and unexpected bereavement. British Journal of Psychiatry 144, 84-88.
40. McCrae, R. R. & Costa, P. T., Jr. (1988). Psychological resilience among widowed men and women: a 10-year follow-up of a national sample. Journal of Social Issues 44, 129-142.
41. McHorney, C. A. & Mor, V. (1988). Predictors of bereavement depression and its health services consequences. Medical Care 26, 882-893.
42. Maddison, D. & Walker, W. L. (1967). Factors affecting the outcome of conjugal bereavement. British Journal of Psychiatry 113, 1057-1068.
43. Mendes de Leon, C. F., Kasl, S. V. & Jacobs, S. (1994). A prospective study of widowhood and changes in symptoms of depression in a community sample of the elderly. Psychological Medicine 24, 613-624.
44. Monroe, S. M. & Simons, A. D. (1991). Diathesis-stress theories in the context of life stress research: implications for the depressive disorders. Psychological Bulletin 110, 406-425.
45. Murrell, S. A. & Himmelfarb, S. (1989). Effects of attachment bereavement and pre-event conditions on subsequent depressive symptoms in older adults. Psychological Aging 4, 166-172.
46. Norris, F. H. & Murrell, S. A. (1990). Social support, life events, and stress as modifiers to bereavement by older adults. Psychology of Aging 5, 429-436.
47. Nuss, W. S. & Zubenko, G. S. (1992). Correlates of persistent depressive symptoms in widows. American Journal of Psychiatry 149, 346-351.
48. Osterweis, M., Solomon, F. & Green, M. (1984). Bereavement: Reactions, Consequences, and Care. National Academy Press: Washington, DC.
49. Palmore, E., Cleveland, W. P., Nowlin, J. B., Ramm, D. & Siegler, I. C. (1979). Stress and adaptation in later life. Journal of Gerontology 34, 841-851.
50. Parkes, C. M. & Weiss, R. S. (1983). Recovery from Bereavement. Basic Books: New York.
51. Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D scale: a self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement 1, 385-401.
52. Rando, T. A. (1993). Treatment of Complicated Mourning. Research Press: Champaigne, IL.
53. Raphael, B. & Middleton, W. (1990). What is pathological grief? Psychiatric Annals 20, 304-307.
54. Roberts, R. E. (1980). Reliability of the CES-D Scale in different ethnic contexts. Psychiatry Research 2, 125-134.
55. Robins, L. N., Helzer, J. E., Croughhan, J. & Ratcliff, K. L. (1981). National Institute of Mental Health Diagnostic Interview Schedule: its history, characteristics and validity. Archives of General Psychiatry 38, 381-389.
56. Sanders, C. M. (1993). Risk factors in bereavement outcome. In Handbook of Bereavement: Theory, Research and Intervention (ed. M. S. Stroebe, W. Stroebe and R. O. Hansson), pp. 255-267. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.
57. Schleifer, S. J., Keller, S. E., Camerino, M., Thornton, J. C. & Stein, M. (1983). Suppression of lymphocyte stimulation following bereavement. Journal of the American Medical Association 250, 374-377.
58. Smith, W. J. (1978). The etiology of depression in a sample of elderly widows. Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 11, 81-83.
59. Stroebe, M. & Stroebe, W. (1993). Determinants of adjustment to bereavement in younger widows and widowers. In Handbook of Bereavement: Theory, Research and Intervention (ed. M. S. Stroebe, W. Stroebe and R. O. Hansson), pp. 208-226. Cambridge University Press; Cambridge.
60. US Bureau of the Census (1991). Marital status and living arrangements: March, 1990. Current Population Reports (Series P-20, No. 450). US Government Printing Office: Washington, DC.
61. Vachon, M. L. S., Sheldon, A. R., Lancee, W. J., Lyall, W. A. L., Rogers, J. & Freeman, S. J. J. (1982a). Correlates of enduring distress patterns following bereavement: social network, life situation and personality. Psychological Medicine 12, 783-788.
62. Vachon, M. L. S., Rogers, J., Lyall, W. A., Lancee, W. J., Sheldon, A. R. & Freeman, S. J. J. (1982b). Predictors and correlates of adaptation to conjugal bereavement. American Journal of Psychiatry 139, 998-1002.
63. Wheaton, B. (1990). Life transitions, role history, and mental health. American Psychological Review 55, 209-233.
64. Wortman, C. B., Sheedy, C., Gluhoski, V. & Kessler, R. (1992). Stress, coping, and health: conceptual issues and directions for future research. In Hostility, Coping, and Health (ed. H. S. Friedman), pp. 227-256. American Psychological Association: Washington, DC.
65. Zisook S. (1991). Diagnostic and treatment considerations in depression associated with late life bereavement. Paper presented at the NIH Consensus Development Conference on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Depression in Late Life, Bethesda, MD. November, 1991.
66. Zisook, S. & Shuchter, S. R. (1985). Time course of spousal bereavement. General Hospital Psychiatry 7, 95-100.
67. Zisook, S & Shuchter, S. R. (1991a). Early psychological reaction to the stress of widowhood. Psychiatry 54, 320-333.
68. Zisook, S. & Shuchter, S. R. (1991b). Depression through the first year after the death of a spouse. American Journal of Psychiatry 148, 1346-1352.
69. Zisook, S., Paulus, M., Shuchter, S. R. & Judd, L. L. (1997). The many faces of depression following spousal bereavement. Journal of Affective Disorders 45, 85-95.