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The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry Oct 1993This paper evaluates the validity of the distinction between the depressive syndrome associated with uncomplicated bereavement and major depression by following the...
BACKGROUND
This paper evaluates the validity of the distinction between the depressive syndrome associated with uncomplicated bereavement and major depression by following the course, associated symptoms, and impairment associated with depressive episodes occurring in bereaved widows and widowers.
METHODS
Two hundred fifty-nine widows/widowers were interviewed and completed the San Diego Widowhood Questionnaire at 2, 13, and 25 months after the deaths of their spouses. Subjects were diagnosed as depressed or not depressed on the basis of DSM-III-R criteria.
RESULTS
Fifty-nine (23%) of subjects met symptomatic criteria for a major depressive syndrome at 2 months. Because of the close proximity to the death, the symptoms in these 59 subjects were considered to represent "uncomplicated bereavement" rather than major depression. Compared with widows/widowers who did not manifest an early depressive syndrome, the "depressed" group was more likely to have past or family histories of major depression, present treatment with antidepressant medication, feelings of worthlessness and suicidal ideation, poor health and job satisfaction, and major depression 1 and 2 years later.
CONCLUSION
When a full depressive syndrome is present soon after the death of a spouse, the symptoms may often be prolonged and associated with substantial morbidity. We recommend that future conceptualizations of uncomplicated bereavement exclude persons with major depressive episodes.
Topics: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Antidepressive Agents; Bereavement; Depressive Disorder; Diagnosis, Differential; Family; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Personality Inventory; Prognosis; Reproducibility of Results; Self Concept; Severity of Illness Index; Suicide; Time Factors; Widowhood
PubMed: 8262878
DOI: No ID Found -
Social Security BulletinWidow benefits have been a part of the Social Security program since the 1939 amendments to the Social Security Act (widower benefits were added later). For many years,...
Widow benefits have been a part of the Social Security program since the 1939 amendments to the Social Security Act (widower benefits were added later). For many years, the Social Security law called for paying a widow(er) a fraction of the deceased worker's primary insurance amount (PIA). However, the worker--while alive--may have received the full PIA as his or her retirement benefit. Over time, arguments were made that a widow(er) should be treated as generously as his or her spouse was. The 1972 amendments to the Social Security Act allowed for a widow(er) to receive a full PIA, subject to actuarial reductions if the widow(er) benefit was claimed before the normal retirement age (NRA) and subject to a new provision of the law commonly referred to as the widow(er)'s limit. Generally, the widow(er)'s limit specifies that if a worker received reduced retirement benefits (because the worker claimed benefits before the NRA), then the worker's widow(er) cannot receive a monthly benefit equal to the full PIA. Rather, the widow(er)'s benefit is generally limited to the amount the worker would receive if he or she was still alive. The limit provision appears to be motivated by the overall intent of the 1972 Congress to pay a benefit to a widow(er) that was comparable with what the worker received. A number of changes to the limit provision have been discussed. This article looks at the following options: Abolishing the limit, Raising the limit by requiring that it never be set below the average PIA among all retired-worker beneficiaries. Adjusting the limit for some widow(er)s--that is, only persons who are widowed before the NRA (the ARLA option), Making a simpler adjustment to the limit by abolishing it for persons who are widowed before age 62 (the SARLA option), and A proposal by Robert J. Myers that would make modest adjustments to the limit for cases in which the worker died before the NRA. The most fundamental change--abolishing the limit--would increase benefits for about 2.8 million widow(er)s and would cost about $3.1 billion a year. Most of the additional government expenditures would not go to the poor and the near poor. Another change would be more successful in aiding low-income widow(er)s: requiring that the limit amount never be set below the average PIA among all retired-worker beneficiaries. About 58 percent of the government expenditures from that option would be received by the poor and the near poor. Overall, 1.2 million widow(er)s would be helped, and the cost would be about $816 million a year. Although the limit provision is consistent with the overall intent of the 1972 Congress, it can have effects that may have been unintended and that some policymakers might consider unusual. Persons who delay receipt of Social Security benefits usually receive higher monthly benefit amounts, but a widow(er) who faces a limit cannot increase his or her monthly benefit through delayed receipt of benefits. Thus, many persons who are widowed before the NRA face strong incentives to claim benefits early. That is somewhat unusual because the actuarial adjustments under Social Security are approximately fair, so there are no cost savings to the Social Security program from "forcing" a widow(er) to claim early benefits as opposed to allowing him or her to delay receipt of benefits in exchange for a higher monthly amount. And many widow(er)s would be better off if they could use the Social Security program to, in effect, save (that is, delay receipt of benefits in exchange for a higher amount later). This article analyzes two other options that would provide widow(er)s with additional filing options under Social Security. The ARLA option would ultimately help about 229,000 widow(er)s, and the cost would be small (about $69 million a year). The SARLA option would help about 117,000 widow(er)s, and the cost would be about $41 million a year. Robert J. Myers, a former Chief Actuary of Social Security, has offered a proposal that would provide relief from the widow(er)'s limit in cases in which the worker dies shortly after retirement. That proposal would help about 115,000 widow(er)s, and the cost would be low (about $57 million a year).
Topics: Aged; Costs and Cost Analysis; Female; Humans; Insurance Benefits; Male; Middle Aged; Social Security; United States; Widowhood
PubMed: 12428513
DOI: No ID Found -
The American Journal of Geriatric... Jul 2024
Topics: Humans; Widowhood; Social Support; Suicide Prevention; Aged; Suicide
PubMed: 38448306
DOI: 10.1016/j.jagp.2024.02.007 -
The Journals of Gerontology. Series B,... Jan 2014Becoming widowed is a known risk factor for mortality. This article examines the magnitude of, explanations for, and variation in the association between widowhood and...
OBJECTIVES
Becoming widowed is a known risk factor for mortality. This article examines the magnitude of, explanations for, and variation in the association between widowhood and mortality. Previous research on widowhood mortality has revealed variation by socioeconomic status (SES), in that SES is not protective in widowhood, and by gender, such that men's mortality increases more than women's mortality after the death of spouse.
METHOD
Using data from the Health and Retirement Study, we estimated Cox proportional hazard models to estimate the association between widowhood and mortality.
RESULTS
Becoming widowed is associated with a 48% increase in risk of mortality. Approximately one third of the increase can be attributed to selection, in that those who become widows are socioeconomically disadvantaged. In contrast to previous studies, SES is protective for widows. Widowhood mortality risk increases for men if their wives' deaths were unexpected rather than expected; for women, the extent to which their husbands' death was expected matters less.
DISCUSSION
Widowhood's harmful association with mortality show how strongly social support and individual's health and mortality are related. These findings support the larger literature on the importance of social support for health and longevity.
Topics: Age Factors; Aged; Educational Status; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Mortality; Proportional Hazards Models; Risk Factors; Social Support; Socioeconomic Factors; United States; Widowhood
PubMed: 24077660
DOI: 10.1093/geronb/gbt079 -
Journal of Women & Aging 2022Take good care of yourself is a regard often said to older bereaved women. However, what does it mean? Though self-care is a well-known phenomenon within health, it is... (Review)
Review
Take good care of yourself is a regard often said to older bereaved women. However, what does it mean? Though self-care is a well-known phenomenon within health, it is not well understood in the context of late life spousal bereavement and widowhood. We undertook an integrative review to synthesize knowledge of older women's self-care challenges, resources and activities when bereaved and in a healthy transition to widowhood. Good care refers to health-promoting self-care and can be explained as the older widows' ability to access and mobilize resources and activities that are significant for a healthy transition to widowhood.
Topics: Aged; Bereavement; Female; Grief; Humans; Self Care; Widowhood
PubMed: 32339070
DOI: 10.1080/08952841.2020.1753484 -
JEMS : a Journal of Emergency Medical... Sep 2014
Topics: Attitude to Death; California; Community Participation; Emergency Medical Technicians; Empathy; Female; Firefighters; Humans; Male; Stress, Psychological; Widowhood
PubMed: 25322523
DOI: No ID Found -
Women's Writing : the Elizabethan To... 1999
Topics: England; History, 19th Century; Interpersonal Relations; Social Class; Social Conditions; Widowhood; Women; Women's Health; Women's Rights
PubMed: 22624189
DOI: 10.1080/09699089900200066 -
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews Mar 2022Accumulating research suggests that stressful life events, especially those that threaten close intimate bonds, are associated with an increased risk of dementia.... (Review)
Review
Spousal caregiving, widowhood, and cognition: A systematic review and a biopsychosocial framework for understanding the relationship between interpersonal losses and dementia risk in older adulthood.
Accumulating research suggests that stressful life events, especially those that threaten close intimate bonds, are associated with an increased risk of dementia. Grieving the loss of a spouse, whether in the form of caregiving or after the death, ranks among 'life's most significant stressors', evoking intense psychological and physiological distress. Despite numerous studies reporting elevated dementia risk or poorer cognition among spousal caregivers and widow(er)s compared to controls, no review has summarized findings across cognitive outcomes (i.e., dementia incidence, cognitive impairment rates, cognitive performance) or proposed a theoretical model for understanding the links between partner loss and abnormal cognitive decline. The current systematic review summarizes findings across 64 empirical studies. Overall, both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies revealed an adverse association between partner loss and cognitive outcomes. In turn, we propose a biopsychosocial model of cognitive decline that explains how caregiving and bereavement may position some to develop cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. More longitudinal studies that focus on the biopsychosocial context of caregivers and widow(er)s are needed.
Topics: Aged; Caregivers; Cognition; Cross-Sectional Studies; Dementia; Female; Humans; Widowhood
PubMed: 34971701
DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.12.010 -
Pests and Their Control Apr 1948
Topics: Animals; Black Widow Spider; Humans; Widowhood
PubMed: 18907583
DOI: No ID Found -
Journal of the Medical Association of... Sep 1948
Topics: Animals; Black Widow Spider; Humans; Widowhood
PubMed: 18879323
DOI: No ID Found