Widowhood and health in late life: does health change before or after widowhood in older Taiwanese men and women?

Li, Yueh-Ping; Lin, Huey‐Shyan

doi:10.1080/08952841.2019.1618128

Cited by 11 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…29 In particular, older people who have lost their spouse typically undergo physical and psychological changes, including functional decline and depression. 7 In addition, widowed older people with poor health have been reported to have significantly higher rates of complicated major depressive disorders than those with good health. 8 Thus, the detection of depressive symptoms may play a key role in preventing functional decline.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, this limitation seems to be common in other studies on widowed older people because females generally have a longer life expectancy than males. 7 Thirdly, retests are necessary, and the lack thereof is an obvious limitation. Fourthly, prior studies have found that anxiety is also a common problem, where the syndromes typically overlap with depressive syndromes among older people.…”

Section: E299mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…6 Although depressive symptoms may diminish over time, the results of a longitudinal study of a Taiwanese population indicated that the symptoms of depression in widowed older people were significantly higher than those of married older people. 7 Other studies have also demonstrated that widowed older people with depression may exhibit reduced engagement in daily life activities. 8 Consequently, this lack of engagement may lead to a decline in health, including impaired ability in daily activities, which can further worsen their depressive symptoms.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Short versions of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) among widowed older people in Taiwan: Comparing their psychometric properties

Lin

et al. 2021

Australas J Ageing

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To compare the psychometric properties of different short versions of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) among community-dwelling widowed older people. Methods: A cross-sectional design was conducted between February 2018 and August 2019 in southern Taiwan (n = 330). The GDS short versions included Hoyl et al's 5-item version, Molloy et al's 5-item version and van Marwijk et al's 4-item version. Results: All GDS short versions had satisfactory internal consistency (α = 0.83-0.90), with strong item loading embedded in the same construct of depression (0.43-0.72). The activity of daily living (ADL) scores had strong associations with van Marwijk et al's 4-item version (absolute standardised coefficient [|β|] = 0.15-0.59), Hoyl et al's 5-item version (|β| = 0.16-0.45) and Molloy et al's 4-item version (|β| = 0.09-0.40). Conclusions: Hoyl et al's 5-item version was found to be more suitable than the other two versions of the GDS to assess the precise construct of depression. Meanwhile, van Marwijk et al's 4-item version can be used when the focus is on ADL performance. However, the conclusion should be interpreted with caution since the results were derived only from a widowed population in Taiwan. More research on this topic among other populations is thus needed to corroborate our conclusion.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: E299mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Short versions of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) among widowed older people in Taiwan: Comparing their psychometric properties

Lin

et al. 2021

Australas J Ageing

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“…In the early period of spouse loss, the men showed cognitive decline, while the women did not. Men were suggested to be more likely to face the dilemmas of being unable to handle housework, having a lack of caregivers and experiencing depressive symptoms [47], which might impose stress on their cognitive function. However, unlike some existing studies [48,49], we found no evidence that the negative effects of widowhood diminished over time.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Association between Widowhood and Cognitive Function among Chinese Elderly People: Do Gender and Widowhood Duration Make a Difference?

Xiang

Liu

et al. 2021

Healthcare

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Few studies have examined the effects of widowhood on cognitive function in Chinese elderly individuals. We conducted a longitudinal study to assess the association between widowhood and cognitive function and further explored gender differences in this association and the impact of widowhood duration. The analytical sample consisted of 5872 Chinese elderly people who participated in the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) and were followed up from 2005 to 2014. We used the Chinese version of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) to assess cognitive function. Widowhood duration was calculated from the self-reported year at which the spouse passed away. Multilevel growth models were employed to estimate the association between widowhood and cognitive function while adjusting for many demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Widowhood status was associated with cognitive decline among Chinese elderly individuals after adjusting for covariates (B = −0.440, 95% CI −0.727 to −0.152), and this association was only statistically significant among men (B = −0.722, 95% CI −1.104 to −0.339). Being widowed for 5 years or less (B = −0.606, 95% CI −1.112 to −0.100), 16–20 years (B = −0.937, 95% CI −1.685 to −0.190), and 21+ years (B = −1.401, 95% CI −1.967 to −0.834) predicted worse cognitive function in men, while being widowed for more than 21+ years (B = −0.655, 95% CI −1.186 to −0.124) was associated with cognitive decline in women. More attention should be directed towards widowed men and long-term widowed elderly individuals.

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“…Protective factors for the improvement of their lives after the death of their husbands have been found to be highly turbulent with psychosocial and socioeconomic risks being a common phenomenon (Djuikom & van de Walle, 2018). At psychosocial level, widows are prone to immense stress, depression, stigma, child custody battles and demeaning widowhood rites (Li & Lin, 2019). They are also faced with socioeconomic struggles when they encounter property and land disinheritance which was mainly accrued through marriage.…”

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confidence: 99%

Widowhood and associated risks in under-resourced communities: A Social Work Perspective

Dube

2021

TSSJ

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The perpetual growth in the population of widows globally signals the need for systematic research and interrogation of the phenomenon of widowhood. Under-resourced communities have been side-lined from imperative investigations and systematic documentation to inform practice. This article discusses the risks associated with widowhood in under-resourced communities of Binga District in Zimbabwe. Following a qualitative research approach and a phenomenological research design, purposive sampling was employed to engage ten widows in one-on-one in-depth interviews. Data were analysed thematically and backed up by existing literature to provide thick descriptions. The findings of the study indicated that widows were exposed to an arsenal of health, psychological, social and economic risks. Many of the risks associated with widowhood are exacerbated by lack of supportive environments and provision of conducive environment to trigger proper adaptation mechanism especially among the young widows in under-resourced communities. The conclusions reached were that widowhood risk factors continue to increase among widows in under-resourced communities impacting negatively on optimal living and adaptation with the widows’ circumstances.

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Widowhood and health in late life: does health change before or after widowhood in older Taiwanese men and women?

Cited by 11 publications

References 38 publications

Short versions of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) among widowed older people in Taiwan: Comparing their psychometric properties

Short versions of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) among widowed older people in Taiwan: Comparing their psychometric properties

The Association between Widowhood and Cognitive Function among Chinese Elderly People: Do Gender and Widowhood Duration Make a Difference?

Widowhood and associated risks in under-resourced communities: A Social Work Perspective

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