Bereavement after caregiving or unexpected death: Effects on elderly spouses
Bereavement after caregiving or unexpected death: Effects on elderly spouses
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DOI：
10.1080/13607860500410045
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发表时间：
2006-05-01
影响因子：
3.4
通讯作者：
Small, B. J.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Burton, A. M.;Haley, W. E.;Small, B. J.
研究表明，人们对丧亲之痛的反应会有所不同，具体取决于死亡是预期的还是意外的，以及家庭照顾经历的性质，但之前很少有研究同时考察这些因素。为了解决这些问题，我们利用了“改变老年夫妇的生活”(CLOC) 研究中 193 名参与者的丧亲前瞻性数据，这些数据在他们失去亲人之前以及死后 6 个月和 18 个月时进行了评估。在没有护理、低压力护理或高压力护理的情况下经历意外损失或预期损失的参与者在每次情况下都完成了心理、社会和健康功能的测量。结果显示，意外死亡与抑郁症的显着增加有关，而护理的性质并不影响任何心理健康指标的轨迹。除高压力的照顾者外，所有群体在丧亲之后都表现出社交活动和支持的改善，这表明高压力的照顾者在丧亲期间可能面临更大的社会孤立风险。因此，经历意外死亡可能会使失去亲人的配偶面临抑郁的风险，而高压力的照顾可能会导致社会孤立的问题。
Responses to bereavement have been shown to vary depending on whether death is expected or unexpected, and on the nature of family caregiving experiences, but little previous research has examined these factors simultaneously. To address these issues, we utilized prospective data on bereavement from 193 participants in the Changing Lives of Older Couples (CLOC) study, who were assessed both before their loss and at six and 18 months after the death. Participants who experienced either unexpected loss, or expected loss without caregiving, with low-stress caregiving, or with high-stress caregiving completed measures of psychological, social, and health functioning on each occasion. Results showed that unexpected death was associated with marked increases in depression, while the nature of caregiving did not affect the trajectory of any of the psychological well-being measures. All groups except highly stressed caregivers showed improvements in social activity and support after bereavement, suggesting that highly stressed caregivers may be at an increased risk for social isolation during bereavement. Thus experiencing an unexpected death may put bereaved spouses at risk for depression, while high-stress caregiving may lead to problems with social isolation.