-
Journal Der Deutschen Dermatologischen... Sep 2021Originally believed to be an omen for early widowhood, widow's peak, a V-shaped descending extension of the anterior hairline at the center of the forehead is now known... (Review)
Review
Originally believed to be an omen for early widowhood, widow's peak, a V-shaped descending extension of the anterior hairline at the center of the forehead is now known to be a morphogenetic trait. Although in the majority of cases, widow's peak is a normal variant, its presence has also been associated with several genetic syndromes.
Topics: Female; Forehead; Humans; Widowhood
PubMed: 34357692
DOI: 10.1111/ddg.14502 -
MMW Fortschritte Der Medizin Apr 2023
Topics: Humans; Male; Female; Widowhood; Plant Leaves
PubMed: 37016232
DOI: 10.1007/s15006-023-2530-y -
Current Opinion in Psychology Feb 2024Bereavement is a common and often challenging experience in late life. Evidence shows that while many older adults manage to adjust well and demonstrate resilience in... (Review)
Review
Bereavement is a common and often challenging experience in late life. Evidence shows that while many older adults manage to adjust well and demonstrate resilience in response to the death of a close person, bereavement puts a substantial minority at risk of adverse mental and physical health impacts including mortality. Current research further indicates that 1) this is the case across different countries and cultures across the globe; 2) that the COVID-19 pandemic posed unprecedented challenges for coping with late-life bereavement; 3) that loneliness and social isolation among bereaved older adults tend to be prevalent and harmful, particularly under pandemic but also in nonpandemic circumstances; and, recently, 4) that bereavement may be a risk factor for cognitive decline in this population.
Topics: Female; Humans; Aged; Pandemics; Widowhood; Bereavement; Grief; Loneliness
PubMed: 38071788
DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2023.101748 -
Journal of Happiness Studies 2023Using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE, 2004-17) and time diaries from Poland (2013), the U.S. (2006-16), the U.K. (2014-15) and...
UNLABELLED
Using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE, 2004-17) and time diaries from Poland (2013), the U.S. (2006-16), the U.K. (2014-15) and France (2009-10), we examine differences between widowed and partnered older women in well-being and its development in widowhood. Most importantly, our analysis accounts for time use, an aspect which has not been studied previously. We trace the evolution of well-being of women who become widowed by comparing them with their matched non-widowed 'statistical twins' and examine the role of an exceptionally broad set of potential moderators of widowhood's impact on well-being. We confirm a dramatic decrease in mental health and life satisfaction after the loss of partner, followed by a slow partial recovery over a 5-year period. An extensive set of controls recorded prior to widowhood, including detailed family ties and social networks, provides little help in explaining the deterioration in well-being. Unique data from time-diaries kept by older women in several European countries and the U.S. tell us why: the key factor behind widows' reduced well-being is increased time spent alone.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10902-023-00622-w.
PubMed: 36694477
DOI: 10.1007/s10902-023-00622-w -
The Journals of Gerontology. Series B,... May 2015This study estimates the sex-specific prevalence of repartnering after widowhood. The main objective is to examine the competing choice between nonmarital cohabitation...
OBJECTIVES
This study estimates the sex-specific prevalence of repartnering after widowhood. The main objective is to examine the competing choice between nonmarital cohabitation and remarriage as well as repartnering differentials.
METHODS
The study uses data from the 2007 Canadian General Social Survey and life table methods to illustrate gender and regional differences in the cumulative proportion of people aged 45 and older who repartner after widowhood. Proportional hazard models are used to examine how factors such as socioeconomic resources, region, demographic characteristics, and health associate with the risk of repartnering and repartnering preferences.
RESULTS
Most repartnering after widowhood occurs within ten years of this event or not at all. Ten years after widowhood, about 7% of widows and 29% of widowers have formed a new union. For both widows and widowers, the rate of remarriage is twice as high as the rate of cohabitation. The exception to this is the province of Quebec, where cohabitation is a more prevalent choice of repartnering than remarriage. There is a weak association between socioeconomic resources and both the risk of cohabitation and remarriage.
DISCUSSION
Our results confirm that constraints in marriage markets appear to contribute to a gender gap in the prevalence of repartnering after widowhood. Though the widowed prefer remarriage over cohabitation as a repartnering choice, there are important regional differences in repartnering that reflect cultural norms in the social acceptance of cohabitation. Socioeconomic disincentives to marriage do not appear to push the widowed into cohabitation.
Topics: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Canada; Female; Humans; Male; Marriage; Middle Aged; Quebec; Sex Factors; Socioeconomic Factors; Spouses; Widowhood
PubMed: 24924159
DOI: 10.1093/geronb/gbu060 -
International Journal of Emergency... Jan 2024Black widows, one of the few spiders that can sting humans with poison, are members of the spider genus Latrodectus and are well-known for the extraordinary potency of...
Black widows, one of the few spiders that can sting humans with poison, are members of the spider genus Latrodectus and are well-known for the extraordinary potency of their neurotoxic venom. Latrodectism, a symptom marked by excruciating muscular pain, stomach pain, and diaphoresis after envenomation, is very typical. We described a black widow envenomation case that produced a significant reaction, including diaphoresis and excruciating pain throughout the left thigh that later spread to the lower leg, lower back, belly, and chest. Because of the patient's description of the spider that bit him and his typical clinical state, it was assumed that Latrodectus envenomation was the cause of his symptoms. The patient received 3 days of observation in the ED while receiving opioid analgesic pain management and muscle relaxant treatment with diazepam. The patient's pain and symptoms were satisfactorily managed, and he was sent home. This case report will help further research be done in the area where it was reported to see if there are cases with similar presentations misdiagnosed as other illnesses. Finally, immediate pain relief is the most critical goal for all patients.
PubMed: 38166617
DOI: 10.1186/s12245-023-00576-z -
International Journal of Aging & Human... Jun 2023Previous research on older adults who are widowed often focuses on the immediate subjective impacts of spousal loss, and how gender might influence this. Our interest...
Previous research on older adults who are widowed often focuses on the immediate subjective impacts of spousal loss, and how gender might influence this. Our interest here is on the factors that influence subjective well-being after a period of at least two years' post-bereavement, and how this might differ for men and women. We draw on theoretical considerations from previous research on gender and on widowhood and use two different measures-life satisfaction and happiness-to assess possible differences in this subjective outcome. We used data from the 2014 Health and Retirement Study on 692 widowed adults aged 65 and over (578 females and 114 males) and employed regression and postestimation analyses to examine whether and how gender influences their subjective well-being. Our findings show that gender did not affect overall levels of subjective well-being, regardless of measure. However, gender did influence the predictors, such as total household income, total wealth, and social support from children and friends, for life satisfaction and happiness somewhat differently. Our study highlights the importance of examining gender differences among older widows and widowers and also underlines the importance of introducing different measures of subjective well-being that might yield different yet valuable findings.
Topics: Male; Humans; Female; Aged; Widowhood; Bereavement; Social Support
PubMed: 35469425
DOI: 10.1177/00914150221092990 -
Acta Neurologica Scandinavica Oct 2018Most studies show that marriage conveys a survival advantage. Whether this is valid also for stroke patients is unclear. Results of studies have been inconsistent and...
OBJECTIVES
Most studies show that marriage conveys a survival advantage. Whether this is valid also for stroke patients is unclear. Results of studies have been inconsistent and conflicting.
MATERIAL & METHODS
We studied 1-week and 1-month stroke case-fatality in relation to marital status (married, unmarried, divorced, and widowed) in all patients admitted to hospital for incident stroke in Denmark during 2003-2012. We used information from Danish registries on stroke merged to information on age, sex, marital status, stroke severity, stroke subtype, socioeconomic status, cardiovascular risk profile, and causes of death. We studied deaths due to the index stroke within the first week and month after stroke. Multivariate Cox regression models were applied to estimate cause-specific hazards and relative risks.
RESULTS
We included 60507 patients with an incident stroke of which 51.19% were married, 9.47% were unmarried, 13.29% were divorced, and 26.05% were widowers. Death within the first week and first month was caused by stroke in 2110 (3.5%) and 3423 (5.7%) patients, respectively. Compared to married stroke patients, 1-week/1-month case-fatality (by stroke) was lower for the unmarried (HR (hazard ratio):0.69/0.74), divorced (HR:0.69/0.72), and widowed (HR:0.80/0.74) men and the unmarried (HR:0.84/0.86), divorced (HR:0.82/0.80), and widowed (HR:0.87/0.88) women with stroke.
CONCLUSIONS
One-week and one-month case-fatality by stroke was lower among the unmarried, divorced, and widowed than among the married stroke patients. Selection by so-called mortality displacement linked to shorter life expectancy among divorced, widowed, and singles may explain our findings.
Topics: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Denmark; Female; Humans; Male; Marital Status; Middle Aged; Mortality; Registries; Stroke
PubMed: 29920647
DOI: 10.1111/ane.12975 -
Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience 2021The negative impacts of spousal bereavement on the emotional health of the elderly (e.g., depression and anxiety) have been revealed. However, whether widowhood impairs...
BACKGROUND
The negative impacts of spousal bereavement on the emotional health of the elderly (e.g., depression and anxiety) have been revealed. However, whether widowhood impairs emotional cognition among the elderly is less known. The purpose of this study is to reveal the emotional cognitive deficits among the widowed elderly.
METHODS
In this study, we recruited 44 widowed elderly (WE) and 44 elder couples (non-widowed elderly, NWE) and examined their emotional cognition including attention and visual working memory, which were measured by the visual search task and delayed-match-to-sample task, respectively. Three kinds of emotional faces (i.e., sad, angry, and happy) were adopted as the attentional or mnemonic targets.
RESULTS
It revealed that WE had a general deficit in search efficiency across emotional types, while they showed mnemonic deficits in negative faces but not positive faces. Furthermore, the modeling analysis revealed that the level of depression or state anxiety of the elderly moderated the effects of widowhood on the deficits of mnemonic processing, i.e., the deficits were only evident among WE with the high level of depression or state anxiety.
CONCLUSION
These findings reveal the attentional deficits in sad, angry, and happy faces and the mnemonic deficits in sad and angry faces among elderly who suffer from widowhood and point out the important role of emotional problems such as depression and state anxiety in modulating these emotional cognitive deficits.
PubMed: 35173602
DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2021.808885 -
PloS One 2023Information on the living conditions of widows in Vietnam is limited. Prior studies of gender gaps have identified widows as vulnerable to the risks of poverty. However,...
Information on the living conditions of widows in Vietnam is limited. Prior studies of gender gaps have identified widows as vulnerable to the risks of poverty. However, widows are only included as a sub-group in broader studies of women's well-being. Large gaps remain in the knowledge based on the factors affecting both widows' susceptibility to poverty and the conditions or circumstances that might minimize these risks. This paper attempts to help redress these knowledge gaps by contributing an analysis of data from the 2018 Vietnam Household Living Standard Surveys. The paper compares the likelihood of poverty for widowed and other households using probit regression. It also assesses whether widows who head up their households face different risks of poverty from those who live in other households. Finally, the paper examines the effects on the risk of poverty of a range of social, demographic and locational characteristics of widow households in Vietnam. Our results indicate that widowed households have experienced a higher probability of falling into poverty. Moreover, widow-headed households have faced more vulnerability to fresh water and housing, especially among widowed households. Policy implications have emerged based on the findings of this paper.
Topics: Female; Humans; Widowhood; Vietnam; Socioeconomic Factors; Poverty; Family Characteristics
PubMed: 37163566
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0285595