Does differential social support cause sex differences in bereavement outcome?

A study of a sample of bereaved and married individuals tested the predicti on from stress theory that sex differences in bereavement outcome are due t o differences in social support extended to the bereaved. Previous research had established that compared to same-sex married controls, widowers suffe r greater health deterioration following the death of a spouse than widows. Although there is some evidence that widows receive more social support th an widowers, it has never been tested empirically whether differential soci al support is responsible for the sex difference in bereavement outcome. Tw o sets of tests were conducted to examine these hypotheses: first, sex diff erences in bereavement outcome and in the social support perceived by the b ereaved were assessed by means of sex x marital status ANOVAs on depressive symptomatology, loneliness and social support; second, an ANCOVA was used to assess whether the marital status x sex interaction on distress was subs tantially reduced or eliminated when social support was used as a covariate . Although there was evidence of the expected sex differences in bereavemen t outcome and social support, there was no evidence that social support med iates the sex differences in bereavement outcome. Copyright (C) 1999 John W iley & Sons, Ltd.