ArticleThe American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry2015
Does the "widowhood effect" precede spousal bereavement? Results from a nationally representative sample of older adults.
Article in The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 77 citations in OpenAlex.
- Neurobiology of Pet Loss Grief: A Review from a One Health Perspective.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Review
- When widowhood meets hospitalisation risk: the dynamic, time-dependent association in older adults.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- Life after loss: cognitive differences by gender and age following widowhood or divorce transitions.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2026Article
- Epigenetic clocks moderate the impact of marital status transitions on health in older adults.PloS one · 2026Article
- Depressive symptom networks before and after widowhood in middle-aged and older adults: findings from four prospective cohort studies.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2025Article
- Associations between widowhood status/duration, depression, and cognitive function among community-dwelling Indians age 60 years or older: Exploration of sex and residential factors.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2025Article
- Differential associations between education and blood pressure by gender and race.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Associations Between Pre-Widowhood Psychological Resilience and Subsequent Depressive Symptom Recovery Following Spousal Loss Among Men and Women.The Gerontologist · 2025Article
- Spousal bereavement and its effects on later life physical and cognitive capability: the Tromsø study.GeroScience · 2024Article
- Observational
- Spousal loss and cognitive function: the importance of gender and multiple dimensions of marital quality.Aging & mental health · 2023Article
- Widowhood and cognition among older women in India: New insights on widowhood duration and mediators.SSM - population health · 2022Article
- Incidence of potentially disruptive medical and social events in older adults with and without dementia.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2022Article
- Effect of Spousal Loss on Depression in Older Adults: Impacts of Time Passing, Living Arrangement, and Spouse's Health Status before Death.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- The association of widowhood and living alone with depression among older adults in India.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Trends in the prevalence and incidence of anxiety and depressive symptoms in Iran: findings from KERCADRS.Family medicine and community health · 2021Article
- Short-Term Mental Health Sequelae of Bereavement Predict Long-Term Physical Health Decline in Older Adults: U.S. Health and Retirement Study Analysis.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2021Article
- The Frequent Stressor and Mental Health Monitoring-Paradigm: A Proposal for the Operationalization and Measurement of Resilience and the Identification of Resilience Processes in Longitudinal Observational Studies.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Review
- Widowhood and Health Status Among Chinese Older Adults: The Mediation Effects of Different Types of Support.Frontiers in public health · 2021Article
- Unmet care needs in the oldest old with social loss experiences: results of a representative survey.BMC geriatrics · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveIncreased mortality risk following spousal bereavement (often called the "widowhood effect") is well documented, but little prior research has evaluated health deteriorations preceding spousal loss.
designData are from the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative sample of Americans over 50 years old.
methodIndividuals who were married in 2004 were considered for inclusion. Outcome data from 2006 on mobility (walking, climbing stairs), number of depressive symptoms, and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) were used. Exposure was characterized based on marital status at the time of outcome measurement: "recent widows" (N=396) were bereaved between 2004 and 2006, before outcomes were assessed; "near widows" (N=380) were bereaved between 2006 and 2008, after outcomes were assessed; "married" individuals (N=7,330) remained married from 2004 to 2010, the follow-up period for this analysis. Linear regression models predicting standardized mobility, depressive symptoms, and IADLs, were adjusted for age, race, gender, birthplace, socio-economic status, and health at baseline.
resultsCompared to married individuals, recent widows had worse depressive symptoms (β=0.71, 95% confidence interval (CI): [0.57, 0.85]). Near widows had worse depressive symptoms (β=0.21, 95% CI: [0.08, 0.34]), mobility (β=0.14, 95%CI: [0.01, 0.26]), and word recall (β=-0.13, 95%CI: [-0.23, -0.02]) compared to married individuals.
conclusionsHealth declines before spousal death suggests some portion of the "widowhood effect" may be attributable to experiences that precede widowhood and interventions prior to bereavement might help preserve the health of the surviving spouse.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.