Changes in life satisfaction when losing one's spouse: individual differences in anticipation, reaction, adaptation and longevity in the German Socio-economic Panel Study (SOEP)

Abstract

Losing a spouse is among the most devastating events that may occur in people's lives. We use longitudinal data from , participants in the German Socio-economic Panel Study (SOEP) to examine (a) how life satisfaction changes with the experience of spousal loss; (b) whether socio-demographic factors and social and health resources moderate spousal loss-related changes in life satisfaction; and (c) whether extent of anticipation, reaction and adaptation to spousal loss are associated with mortality. Results reveal that life satisfaction shows anticipatory declines about two and a half years prior to (anticipation), steep declines in the months surrounding (reaction) and lower levels after spousal loss (adaptation). Older age was associated with steeper anticipatory declines, but less steep reactive declines. Additionally, younger age, better health, social participation and poorer partner health were associated with better adaptation. Higher pre-loss life satisfaction, less steep reactive declines and better adaptation were associated with longevity. The discussion focuses on the utility of examining the interrelatedness among anticipation, reaction and adaptation to further our understanding of change in life satisfaction in the context of major life events.KEY WORDS -anticipation of major life events, bereavement, hedonic treadmill, subjective wellbeing, German Socio-economic Panel Study, SOEP.

The multidimensional nature of resilience to spousal loss.

“…This is contrary to our expectations that spousal loss would have a stronger negative effect on younger than older individuals, because the event was unexpected or “off-time” (Heckhausen et al, 2010; Infurna et al, in press; Neugarten & Halstad, 1976). In future research, it could be useful to explore whether such a heightened sense of loss among younger participants would be found only among those individuals in strong marriages, who enjoyed high levels of closeness with their spouses, or among younger people with children in the home.…”

“…This was done to have a long enough time interval to track change before and after spousal loss (see Infurna et al, in press) and ensure enough statistical power to detect between-person differences in levels and rates of change (Diallo & Morin, in press). Table 1 shows the descriptive statistics for each outcome in relation to spousal loss.…”

“…Also allowed to vary was the total amount of change in life satisfaction, positive affect and negative affect, general health, and physical functioning following spousal loss (year 0 to year 5; post-spousal loss change). We estimated separate latent factors for pre- and post-spousal loss change (as opposed to estimating linear and quadratic change), so that we could get separate estimates for the total amount of change that transpired in the years leading up to and following spousal loss, and to more fully examine the potential non-linearity of change, as has been recommended in previous research (see Infurna et al, in press; Infurna & Luthar, in press a; Lucas et al, 2003). Furthermore, when residualizing for linear change as done by Anusic and colleagues (2014) we found substantively similar findings to those that we report.…”

“…Conversely, remaining active and busy with everyday tasks can help to minimize ruminative patterns and associated depression. Accordingly, we examined the degree to which bereaved individuals, despite feelings of distress, were able to remain involved in everyday tasks and responsibilities (see also Charles, 2010; Infurna, Gerstorf, Ram, Schupp, & Wagner, 2011; Infurna et al, in press). …”

Life Satisfaction of Older Chinese: The Role of Health and Health Insurance

“…determining access to different types of health insurance , we also include hukou status in the model. Losing a spouse in the past 5 years is also included to control for the impacts of major life events on life satisfaction (Infurna et al 2017). In addition, a dummy variable indicating whether the individual was living with children is added into the model, following existing studies (Jin et al 2018).…”