Widowhood and illness: a comparison of social network characteristics in France, Germany, Japan, and the United States.

This study examined social network characteristics of adults aged 70 to 90 years in relation to widowhood and illness in France, Germany, Japan, and the United States. Participants were drawn from representative samples from each of the 4 countries (total N = 1,331). Resource deficit profiles based on whether respondents were widowed, ill, both, or neither were directly related to social network characteristics for German and Japanese adults, were differentially related by gender and age for French adults, and were not related to social networks of Americans. Country, gender, and age differences in total network size, proportion of close network members, and frequency of contact with network members are reported. Similarities and differences found in the associations between normative late-life deficits and social network characteristics in the 4 countries point to the importance of investigating sociocultural factors that mediate the impact of resource loss and afford life quality in very old age.

[1]  D. Commenges,et al.  Health measures correlates in a French elderly community population: the PAQUID study. , 1992, Journal of gerontology.

[2]  A. Bowling,et al.  Death after Widow(er)hood: An Analysis of Mortality Rates up to 13 Years after Bereavement , 1995 .

[3]  T. Antonucci,et al.  Same-sex and cross-sex relationships. , 1996, The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences.

[4]  Jacob Cohen Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences , 1969, The SAGE Encyclopedia of Research Design.

[5]  Laura L. Carstensen,et al.  Handbook of clinical gerontology , 1987 .

[6]  N. Tsuya,et al.  Living arrangements of elderly Japanese and attitudes toward inheritance. , 1992, Journal of gerontology.

[7]  L. Troll,et al.  Constraints and facilitators to friendships in late late life. , 1994, The gerontologist.

[8]  L. Troll,et al.  Handbook of Aging and the Family , 1995 .

[9]  M. Levitt,et al.  Convoys of social support in childhood and early adolescence: Structure and function. , 1993 .

[10]  R. Milardo,et al.  Families and Social Networks , 1988 .

[11]  C. T. Pihlblad,et al.  Widowhood, Social Participation and Life Satisfaction , 1972 .

[12]  S. Syme,et al.  Social networks and coronary artery disease: a comparison of the structure and function of social relations as predictors of disease. , 1987, Psychosomatic medicine.

[13]  I. Connidis,et al.  Confidants and companions in later life: the place of family and friends. , 1990, Journal of gerontology.

[14]  W. Stroebe,et al.  Bereavement and health: The psychological and physical consequences of partner loss. , 1987 .

[15]  S. Cobb Presidential Address-1976. Social support as a moderator of life stress. , 1976, Psychosomatic medicine.

[16]  D. Lund Older bereaved spouses : research with practical applications , 1989 .

[17]  W. M. Holmes,et al.  Divorcees and widows: similarities and differences. , 1980, The American journal of orthopsychiatry.

[18]  D. Morgan,et al.  The Impact of Life Events on Networks of Personal Relationships: A Comparison of Widowhood and Caring for a Spouse with Alzheimer's Disease , 1992 .

[19]  P. Baltes,et al.  Life Span Development and Behavior , 1978 .

[20]  M. Nagai,et al.  Health and welfare statistics in Japan. , 1996, Journal of epidemiology.

[21]  Alexander von Eye,et al.  Introduction to configural frequency analysis: Estimation of expected frequencies in 2 × 2 × 2 tables under the assumption that main effects and first order interactions exist , 1990 .

[22]  B. Hess Growing Old in America , 1976 .

[23]  J. Segovia,et al.  An empirical analysis of the dimensions of health status measures. , 1989, Social science & medicine.

[24]  Ron Coriell,et al.  Doing Unto Others , 1980 .

[25]  H Akiyama,et al.  Social networks in adult life and a preliminary examination of the convoy model. , 1987, Journal of gerontology.

[26]  S. Long,et al.  Daughter-in-law's burden: An exploratory study of caregiving in Japan , 1993, Journal of cross-cultural gerontology.

[27]  R Fuhrer,et al.  Social relations and depressive symptomatology in a sample of community-dwelling French older adults. , 1997, Psychology and aging.

[28]  D. Morgan,et al.  Adjusting to widowhood: do social networks really make it easier? , 1989, The Gerontologist.

[29]  Gregory Arling,et al.  The Elderly Widow and Her Family, Neighbors and Friends. , 1976 .

[30]  K. Roberto,et al.  Confronting Widowhood , 1986 .

[31]  N. Lin,et al.  Age differences in the effects of network composition on psychological distress. , 1999, Social science & medicine.

[32]  T. Antonucci,et al.  An examination of sex differences in social support among older men and women , 1987 .

[33]  R. Alarcón,et al.  Handbook of Bereavement , 1994 .

[34]  Widowhood in an American city , 1973 .

[35]  M. Stephens,et al.  The impact of family interactions on recovery from stroke: help or hindrance? , 1990, The Gerontologist.

[36]  J. Liang,et al.  Social networks, social support, and mortality among older people in Japan. , 1994, Journal of gerontology.

[37]  R. Weinstein,et al.  Marital status and health among the elderly. , 1995, Social science & medicine.

[38]  S Iwarsson,et al.  Quality of life in the elderly population: an example exploring interrelationships among subjective well-being, ADL dependence, and housing accessibility. , 1997, Archives of gerontology and geriatrics.

[39]  Jacqui Smith,et al.  The role of gender in very old age: profiles of functioning and everyday life patterns. , 1998, Psychology and aging.

[40]  I. Connidis,et al.  Confidants and companions: choices in later life. , 1992, Journal of gerontology.

[41]  M. Levitt,et al.  Convoys of social support: an intergenerational analysis. , 1993, Psychology and aging.

[42]  D. gallagher-Thompson,et al.  Handbook of bereavement: The impact of spousal bereavement on older widows and widowers , 1993 .

[43]  T. Antonucci,et al.  Negative effects of close social relations , 1998 .

[44]  T. Wills,et al.  Stress, social support, and the buffering hypothesis. , 1985, Psychological bulletin.

[45]  K. Hurrelmann,et al.  Social networks and social support in childhood and adolescence , 1994 .

[46]  Eva Kahana,et al.  Stress and health among the elderly , 1992 .

[47]  J. Cassel The contribution of the social environment to host resistance: the Fourth Wade Hampton Frost Lecture. , 1976, American journal of epidemiology.

[48]  L. Hong,et al.  Widows in retirement communities: the social context of subjective well-being. , 1994, The Gerontologist.

[49]  T. Antonucci A life-span view of women's social relations. , 1994 .

[50]  M. Caserta,et al.  Handbook of bereavement: The course of spousal bereavement in later life , 1993 .

[51]  F Aichner,et al.  Phenytoin overdosage and cerebellar atrophy in epileptic patients: clinical and MRI findings. , 1994, European neurology.

[52]  Paul B. Baltes,et al.  The Berlin aging study : aging from 70 to 100 , 1998 .

[53]  Environmental influences on the cumulative structure of instrumental ADL: an example in osteoporosis patients in a Swedish rural district , 1998, Clinical rehabilitation.

[54]  T. Antonucci Hierarchical mapping technique. , 1986 .

[55]  S. Syme,et al.  Social support and health. , 1986 .

[56]  Denise C. Park,et al.  Handbook of the Psychology of Aging , 1979 .

[57]  R. Atchley Dimensions of widowhood in later life. , 1975, The Gerontologist.

[58]  Laura L. Carstensen,et al.  Evidence for a Life-Span Theory of Socioemotional Selectivity , 1995 .

[59]  Toni C. Antonucci,et al.  3. Convoys of Attachment and Social Relations in Children, Adolescents, and Adults , 1994 .

[60]  S. Kasl,et al.  Health perceptions and survival: do global evaluations of health status really predict mortality? , 1991, Journal of gerontology.

[61]  Robert L. Kahn,et al.  Convoys over the life course: attachment, roles, and social support , 1980 .

[62]  K. Bulcroft,et al.  Contact with Friends in Later Life: Disentangling the Effects of Gender and Marital Status , 1992 .

[63]  E. Idler Age differences in self-assessments of health: age changes, cohort differences, or survivorship? , 1993, Journal of gerontology.