QUESTIONS ABOUT BEREAVEMENT: ANSWERS FROM THE CLOC STUDY

描述（改编自研究者摘要）：失去配偶是 最常见的严重压力源--几乎一半的人，必然地， 许多研究都试图测量其心理 影响，并确定因素，预测谁将应付得很好， 由此产生的压力，以及谁会出现并发症。大多数人无法 然而，由于他们缺乏关于一个国家的前瞻性数据， 在损失之前的人口样本。老年夫妇生活变化研究 CLOC就是为了克服这个困难而设计的。1532的概率样本 社区居住的老年已婚个人进行了评估之前，损失 685个与未来可能的丧亲之痛相关的基线变量， 对432名受试者的一个子集进行了额外410个变量的评价， 身体和认知功能以及生理参数。失去亲人 配偶（共276人）和单独匹配的对照进行了详细评估 分别在术后6个月、18个月和48个月。 该项目将使用CLOC数据集的独特资源来解决 关于失去配偶的压力的几个具体问题。一是 将丢失的和未丢失的匹配控件与文档进行比较，在 前所未有的细节，如何各种心理，社会和身体 这些因素受丧亲之痛和悲伤的影响。然后我们将“解包” 失去配偶的经历，以确定其哪些方面有助于 每一个观察到的效果。悲伤的变异模式和亚型 根据症状、严重程度和轨迹的差异进行定义 随着时间最后，也是最重要的，我们将使用关于 主体、死者、婚姻、生活状况等因素进行认定 预测丧亲之痛及其并发症的性质变化。 这些研究将只是开始利用CLOC中的丰富信息 数据集，因此我们还计划在准备数据集方面进行相当大的投资， 利用协议、工作人员和 大学间政治和社会研究联合会的设施 [CPSR，1995 - 1996 #418]。为了进一步实现这一目标，我们还将组织一次会议， 这将使其他研究者准备使用CLOC数据集进行更多的研究， 研究自己的问题。我们预计，这种努力，使数据 以一种他们可以使用的形式提供给其他研究人员， 重要的，而且可能是不可预见的，我们对 丧亲

DESCRIPTION (adapted from the investigator's abstract): The loss of a spouse is the most common severe stressor -- nearly half of us will, necessarily, experience it. Many studies have attempted to measure its psychological effects, and to identify factors, which predict who will cope well with the resulting stress, and who will develop complications. Most of these are unable to reach firm conclusions, however, because they lack prospective data on a population sample prior to the loss. The changing Lives of Older Couples study (CLOC) was designed to overcome this difficulty. A probability sample of 1532 community-dwelling elderly married individuals was evaluated prior to the loss on 685 baseline variables relevant to possible future bereavement, with a subset of 432 subjects evaluated on an additional 410 variables that measured physical and cognitive functioning, and physiological parameters. Bereaved spouses (276 in all) and individually matched controls were evaluated in detail at 6, 18, and 48 months after the loss. This project will use the unique resource of the CLOC dataset to address several specific questions about the stress of losing a spouse. First, we will compare bereaved and non-bereaved matched controls to document, in unprecedented detail, how a variety of psychological, social and physical factors are influenced by bereavement and grief. We will then "unpack" the experience of spousal loss to determine which of its aspects contributes to each of the observed effects. Patterns of variation and subtypes of grief will be defined on the basis of differences in symptoms, severity, and trajectories over time. Finally, and most important, we will use baseline data about the subject, the deceased, the marriage, and the life situation to identify factors that predict variation in the nature of bereavement and its complications. These studies will only begin to tap the wealth of information in the CLOC dataset, so we also plan a considerable investment in preparing the dataset and documentation for dissemination via the web using the protocols, staff and facilities of the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [CPSR, 1995-1996 #418]. To further this aim, we will also organize a conference that will prepare other investigators to use of the CLOC dataset for additional studies on their own questions. We anticipate that this effort to make the data available to other researchers in a form that they can use will result in significant, and likely unforeseen, advances in our understanding of bereavement.