Abstract
Objective: To examine the effects of marital closeness on indicators of well-being (depressive symptoms, grief, and relief) as spouses transition from the role of caregiver to that of widowed person. Methods: 118 spouses of persons with end stage renal disease were interviewed prior to and after the death of the patient. Spouses reported on marital closeness, multiple indicators of pre-death strain as reflected by subjective health, depressive symptoms, caregiving burden, and caregiving satisfaction, as well as post-loss feelings of grief, depression, and relief. Results: Hierarchical regressions indicated that post-loss grief was predicted by gender (b = 0.32, p 0.001), self-reported health (b = -0.28, p 0.01), marital closeness (0.22, p 0.05), and pre-loss depressive symptoms (b = 0.19, p 0.10). Caregiver burden (b = 0.28, p 0.05) and marital closeness (b = -0.41, p 0.001) before the death, predicted relief from the caregiver role post-loss. Subjective health (b = -0.21, p 0.05) and pre-loss depressive symptoms (b = 0.47, p 0.001) predicted change in depressive symptoms over time. Conclusion: These data highlight differences in the experiences of grief, relief, and depressive symptoms and suggest that marital closeness plays a central role. Results are interpreted in terms of theory regarding marital quality. Implications for interventions to improve the lives of caregivers and newly widowed spouses are discussed.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 808-817 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Aging and Mental Health |
Volume | 13 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Nov 2009 |
Externally published | Yes |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Phychiatric Mental Health
- Gerontology
- Geriatrics and Gerontology
- Psychiatry and Mental health
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New Jersey Institute for Successful Aging (NJISA)
Anita Chopra (Manager), Elyse Perweiler (Other), Rachel Pruchno (Other) & Robert Nagele (Other)
Geriatric - NJISAEquipment/facility: Facility