THE PSYCHOLOGICAL SYMPTOMS OF CONJUGAL BEREAVEMENT IN ELDERLY MEN OVER THE FIRST 13 MONTHS

Objective. The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychologi cal symptoms experienced by recently widowed older men. It was hypothe sized that conjugal bereavement in this group would be characterized b y a mixture of depression, anxiety and loneliness. Design. Double coho rt study. Setting. Suburban community population of Brisbane, Australi a. Participants. Consecutive widowers (65+ years; N = 57) identified f rom official death records. Married men (65+ years; N = 57) identified from the electoral roll. Widowers interviewed at 6 weeks, 6 months an d 13 months post-bereavement. Married men interviewed at similar inter vals. Measures. Bereavement Phenomenology Questionnaire (BPQ), a 22-it em self-report measure employing a four-point response scale to rate t he frequency of phenomena over the previous fortnight. Zung Self-ratin g Depression Scale (SDS). State component of the Spielberger State/Tra it Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale (ULS). 28-i tem General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). Results. Widowers reported mor e state anxiety and general psychological distress, but not more depre ssion or loneliness, than matched married men over the first 13 months post-bereavement. Widowers also reported more sleep disturbance and t houghts of death and suicide than married men. Level of state anxiety was strongly correlated with intensity of grief, but not with age, inc ome, education, occupational prestige, cognitive function, duration of wife's final illness or expectedness of wife's death. Conclusions. Th e main hypothesis was not supported, as anxiety symptoms were the pred ominant clinical feature of recent conjugal bereavement among older me n. The nature of these anxiety symptoms requires further investigation in recently widowed older persons.