Impact of Widowhood on Parent–Child Relations: Does Parents' Personality Matter?

The authors evaluated the extent to which the short‐term effect of late life widowhood on parent–child relationships is moderated by 5 personality traits—Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, and Openness to Experience—and how these interactive effects differ by gender. Data were from the Changing Lives of Older Couples Study (N = 1,532). The results indicated that the effects of widowhood on positive and negative interactions with children were significantly moderated by Agreeableness, Extraversion, and Openness to Experience. An agreeable personality helped widowed persons receive more positive interactions, whereas Openness to Experience reduced negative interactions. Widowed persons with higher Extraversion reported more negative interactions. Furthermore, moderating effects of Extraversion and Openness to Experience differed by gender; specifically, higher Extraversion scores predicted increased positive interactions with children for widowed women but decreased positive interactions for widowed men. The significant association between Openness to Experience and decreased negative interactions with children was more apparent among men than among women.     

Sociological Determinants of Life Satisfaction in Japan: The Roles of Gender, Family, and Work

Abstract  This is one of the first studies on causes and correlates of life satisfaction among Japanese, based on the theoretical framework of Thibaut and Kelley (1959) on satisfaction and a nationally representative sample of Japanese adults. Emphasized are the effects of such demographic variables as gender, marital status, age, and work-related characteristics on life satisfaction. It is found that Japanese women are more satisfied with their lives than are men on the average. This difference is not explained by the gender difference in employment statuses. When examined for each employment status category, women still show higher life satisfaction than men on the average, except those employed full-time.
While widowed women show lower life satisfaction, never-married and divorced men show the same pattern. The detrimental effect of divorce on life satisfaction among women disappears when economic circumstances variables are controlled for. Age is found to be strongly related to life satisfaction, particularly among men. A non-linear effect of age indicates both family responsibility and job responsibility decrease life satisfaction for Japanese men and women.
The theoretical framework presented in American literature on the subject is largely supported in the present analysis with Japanese data. Rather than absolute levels of economic and/or social indicators, the salience each person places on them is found to be critical for life satisfaction. Given the cognitive definition of satisfaction adopted here which emphasizes comparisons, these results indicate the validity of this theoretical perspective.     

Social‐psychological principles in criminal justice processing

Based on 1979–1981 and 1989–1991 vital registration and 1980 and 1990 census data, we construct increment‐decrement life tables for rural and urban males and females. The analysis is centered on 1980 and 1990 and describes urban‐rural differences in patterns of mortality and nuptiality by age and sex. Our research updates an earlier study that described urban‐rural mortality and marital transition patterns for Tennessee, 1970. The 1980 and 1990 findings parallel the 1970 results. Rural women and men have shorter life expectancies; higher infant mortality rates; younger median ages of entry into first marriage, divorce, and widowhood; a greater proportion of their cohorts ever marrying; lower probabilities of divorce; and higher probabilities of widowhood than urban women and men. However, there was a decline in urban‐rural differences from 1970–1990. These changes suggest that urbanization, technological advances in communication and transportation, and the diffusion of urban lifestyles and values may have blurred the urban‐rural distinction.     

Widows and widowers in today's society

With the increasing life span in our society, the number of widowed individuals has increased dramatically. The loss of a spouse is one of the most stressful life events for both women and men, yet there is little nursing research on the physical and psychosocial needs of older adults who are experiencing this loss. Some studies suggest that widowed women and men develop significant physical and mental health problems and complicated grief. Thus, it is important for nurses to recognize the diversity of grieving experiences and the increased vulnerability of widowed individuals to psychiatric illnesses that may result in suffering and impairment of daily functioning. With a better understanding of these needs, nurses can provide interventions that help these individuals maintain their health and independence.     

Gender, household labor, and psychological distress: the impact of the amount and division of housework.

Using a national longitudinal survey of a representative sample of 1,256 adults, I assess the impact of the amount of household labor performed and its division within the household on men's and women's depression levels, adjusting for prior mental health status. I test two alternative explanations of the contributions of household labor and the division of household labor to gender differences in depression: differential exposure and differential vulnerability. The results indicate that men's lower contributions to household labor explain part of the gender difference in depression. Inequity in the division of household labor has a greater impact on distress than does the amount of household labor. Employment status moderates the effect of the division of labor on depression. Among those who describe themselves as keeping house, depression was lowest for those who performed 79.8 percent of housework. In contrast, for those employed full-time the minimum level of depression occurs at 45.8 percent of the household labor. Men report performing 42.3 percent of the housework in their homes compared to 68.1 percent reported by women. Thus, on average women are performing household labor beyond the point of maximum psychological benefit, whereas men are not. Social support mediates the effects of the division of household labor. The only gender difference in effects occurred among those who are married, for whom social support was associated with lower levels of depression for women than men.     

Female Authority and Dominion: Discourse and Distinctions of Heavy Metal Scholarship

From its inception, both outsiders and insiders have associated heavy metal with men and masculinity. Some have even maintained that metal culture is hostile territory for women. Despite this, a significant proportion of writers who have documented, analysed, and indeed celebrated heavy metal has been women, from the groundbreaking sociological studies of Deena Weinstein and Donna Gaines, to the recent ethnographic work of Emma Baulch. This article provides a preliminary investigation of this historical phenomenon and what it can reveal about the ever complex, constantly changing relationship between gender and power in metal.     

Memories of suffering: Exploring the life story narratives of twice-widowed elderly women

Narratives of suffering often reflect remembered accounts of past traumas and other significant events in individuals' lives that they deem worthy of public presentation and feel comfortable enough to share. This paper examines the life stories of three elderly women who were widowed early in life (“off-time”), eventually remarried, and were later re-widowed “on time.” Their narratives illustrate the complexities of the transitions from wife to widow and from widowhood to remarriage and back again. Commonalities and differences in the narrative are explored, including how suffering was revealed, with an emphasis on understanding the utility of what the women chose to remember, tried to forget, and opted to reveal about their lives. Also considered is their outright rejection of the identity “widow.” Within the broader discussion of remembering and suffering, how individual histories contextualize reactions to subsequent events is also explored.     

The work–family challenge and mental health

The work–family literature is dominated by studies of white middle-class workers. In this study, we sought to expand this focus by examining work–family issues from the perspective of Mexicans who have immigrated to the USA within the past five years. Using data from qualitative in-depth interviews (N?=?22) and quantitative structured interviews (N?=?150), we documented the work–family experiences associated with immigration, and we examined the extent to which these experiences differed by gender as well as their mental health effects. The in-depth interviews clearly indicated that separation from family and community was a common and poignant strain experienced by Mexican immigrants who came to the USA to find work, and that these experiences did not differ between women and men. Quantitative analyses corroborated the qualitative findings by indicating women and men had similar levels of work–family strain. Analyses also indicated that higher levels of work–family strain were associated with more perceived stress, anxiety and depression, and that these associations did not differ between women and men. Finally, modest evidence suggested that the effects of work–family strain on mental health may be lower when the realities experienced by immigrants in finding employment and sending money home matched their expectations. This study adds a new voice to the work–family literature and the context and results make clear the tension between work and family: families frequently benefit from adults’ paid work, but this paid work is not without costs.     

Marital status, marital transitions, and health: a gendered life course perspective

We work from a life course perspective to assess the impact of marital status and marital transitions on subsequent changes in the self-assessed physical health of men and women. Our results suggest three central conclusions regarding the association of marital status and marital transitions with self-assessed health. First, marital status differences in health appear to reflect the strains of marital dissolution more than they reflect any benefits of marriage. Second, the strains of marital dissolution undermine the self-assessed health of men but not women. Finally, life course stage is as important as gender in moderating the effects of marital status and marital transitions on health.     

Research on Household Labor: Modeling and Measuring the Social Embeddedness of Routine Family Work

This article reviews more than 200 scholarly articles and books on household labor published between 1989 and 1999. As a maturing area of study, this body of research has been concerned with understanding and documenting how housework is embedded in complex and shifting social processes relating to the well‐being of families, the construction of gender, and the reproduction of society. Major theoretical, methodological, and empirical contributions to the study of household labor are summarized, and suggestions for further research are offered. In summary, women have reduced and men have increased slightly their hourly contributions to housework. Although men's relative contributions have increased, women still do at least twice as much routine housework as men. Consistent predictors of sharing include both women's and men's employment, earnings, gender ideology, and life‐course issues. More balanced divisions of housework are associated with women perceiving fairness, experiencing less depression, and enjoying higher marital satisfaction.     

GENDER, RELIGIOSITY, AND REACTIONS TO STRAIN AMONG AFRICAN AMERICANS

Drawing on Broidy and Agnew's (1997 ) extension of general strain theory to explain gender differences in deviance and crime, we tested hypotheses explaining why women are more distressed than men, but less likely to commit deviance in reaction to strain. Applying structural equation modeling to analyze data from a national survey of African Americans, we find that African-American women are more distressed than men, but less likely to engage in interpersonal aggression, because they are better protected by religiosity's distress buffering as well as deviance-reducing effects, and more likely to experience self-directed distress (depression and anxiety) in response to strain, which is less likely to lead to other-directed deviance, like interpersonal aggression, than other-directed distress (anger).     

Gender and the Mental–Physical Health Connection Among U.S. Adults

Using data from the 1995, 1998, and 2001 panels of Aging, Status, and Sense of Control (ASOC) Survey, we examine gender differences in the relationship between self‐rated physical health and mental health over time (n = 2,543). Gender‐stratified path models highlight how the nature of the mental–physical health relationship changes when we use indicators of mental health that have traditionally been labeled as female sensitive (depression) or male sensitive (heavy drinking). Results show that women and men are similar in that mental health has a stronger effect on physical health than the reverse. However, this is only the case when we use gender‐sensitive measures of mental distress: Men who drink heavily and women who are depressed report poorer self‐rated physical health over time, while heavy drinking for women and depression for men have no significant effects on their self‐rated physical well‐being. These results provide evidence of a health process that is gendered in its expression but more universal in its outcome—the exact measure might vary, but men and women alike are physically harmed by mental health problems.     

A comparison of widowhood and well-being among older Greek and British-Australian migrant women

The impact of widowhood on well-being has been well-documented, but to date has not focused extensively on the experience of older migrants who have aged in a foreign land. This study aimed to examine the well-being of older migrant widows from two groups in South Australia: British-born (n = 61) and Greek-born (n = 60) Australian migrants, who had been widowed, on average, 13 years. All participants completed a self-report questionnaire in their preferred language. Three indicators of current well-being (self-rated health, depression and loneliness) as well as variables expected to differ cross-culturally, and potentially influence well-being (mourning rituals; continuing bonds to one's spouse; religiosity; social support) were measured. Greek-born widows displayed higher levels of mourning rituals, continuing bonds and religiosity than the British. Both groups perceived similarly high levels of familial social support. Greek widows also reported worse self-rated health, and increased symptoms of depression and loneliness compared to the British. This paper suggests that the detrimental impact of widowhood on well-being may be greater for non-English speaking migrants who are ageing outside of their country of origin, and who, despite residing in an English-speaking host country for several decades, have retained the linguistic, cultural and religious practices and traditions of their home country.     

Childhood Maltreatment,Bullying Victimization,and Psychological Distress Among Gay and Bisexual Men

Sexual minority men report higher psychological distress than heterosexual men, including depression and anxiety. Research suggests that these health disparities may be due to the heightened stressors that gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals experience. Some of these stressors occur early on in life, such as childhood abuse and bullying, and may include stressors that are topically related to sexual minority status, such as anti-gay bullying and teasing for gender nonconformity to masculine gender norms. We tested a structural equation model on the association between negative childhood experiences and adult psychological distress among 304 gay and bisexual men. The model fit the data well, and demonstrated an indirect effect of negative childhood experiences on adult psychological distress via dysfunctional thoughts toward oneself. The results integrate the childhood abuse and anti-gay bullying victimization literatures by showing that both forms of adverse childhood experiences are associated with adult psychological distress. The findings suggest the benefit of treatments to reduce negative, dysfunctional thoughts among gay and bisexual men who have experienced adverse childhood events.     

Sex and aging in the city: Singapore

A survey was carried out on 307 healthy men and 774 women, aged between 30 and 70 years to evaluate the determinants of sex life in the highly urbanized Singapore population. The results showed that significantly more women (28.8%) as compared to men (16.3%) were currently sexually inactive. The main reason for sexual inactivity for women was being divorced or widowed (37.9%) and for men, the loss of interest in sex (42.8%). Relationship problems and being stressed out in life were the next two most common reasons for both men and women. Coital frequency for men and women between the ages of 30 and 55 years averaged about five to six times monthly and was significantly reduced to about three times monthly in those above 55 years old. More men (25.7%) wanted to have more frequent sex than women (5.4%), but were unable to fulfill their desire and the primary reason was that they were too stressed out in life. Results from this study revealed that sex life is determined not only by physiological, but also cultural, social and lifestyle factors. In Singapore, lifestyle factors accounted largely for sexual inactivity, and the inability to fulfill the desire for more frequent sex. The term ‘lifestyle impotency’ was coined to describe the group of men and women who were too stressed out in life to have sex. Therefore, there is a need to evolve a paradigm for the management of sexual dysfunctions by taking into account the underlying etiological factors which, as we have shown, may not be resolved by pharmaceutical interventions.     

Marital trajectories and mental health

This study expands the marital status and mental health literature by examining several dimensions of marital trajectories, including the number and type of prior marital losses and duration in current status. Data are drawn from the Piedmont Health Survey of the National Institute of Mental Health Epidemiologic Catchment Area Study, collected in 1982-83 (n = 2,158). Results indicate that number of prior losses moderates the health-enhancing effect of being currently married; higher order marriages are associated with worse mental health. Although results vary across the mental illnesses examined (depression, anxiety, and substance use), the negative effect of multiple loss also is observed for the currently divorced and widowed. There is less evidence that the type of prior loss (i.e., divorce or widowhood) moderates the effect of current marital status on mental health; however, some support is found among the presently widowed. The analyses of duration in current status suggest that the rate of decline in symptoms of anxiety following one's most recent loss varies by marital history among the currently widowed.     

Repartnering After Union Dissolution in Later Life

The authors estimated the timing of repartnering among individuals who had experienced a union dissolution at age 45 or older, treating cohabitation and marriage as competing risks. The analysis used retrospective data from the 2007 Canadian General Social Survey and life table analysis and Cox models to examine patterns of repartnering. The study offered three major conclusions. First, age constraints on repartnering are large when union dissolution occurs in midlife or later. This age constraint is particularly strong for women and contributes to a wide gender gap in repartnering. Second, in contrast to repartnering at earlier life stages, cohabitation is not the predominant choice of repartnering for those experiencing union dissolution at age 45 and older. Third, union exit status (divorce, cohabitation separation, and widowhood) is a key repartnering differential. The most disadvantageous routes to repartnering are through the experience of cohabitation separation and widowhood.     

THE INTERACTION BETWEEN MARITAL STANDARDS AND COMMUNICATION PATTERNS: HOW DOES IT CONTRIBUTE TO MARITAL ADJUSTMENT?

Couples' cognitions about marriage and their communication patterns have both been found to be highly associated with marital distress. To examine the relationships among marital cognitions, communication, and marital adjustment, we had a sample of 387 community couples complete three self-report measures: the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, the Inventory of Specific Relationship Standards, and the Communication Patterns Questionnaire. Results indicated that the correlation of communication with marital adjustment is higher for women with more relationship-focused standards than for women with less relationship-focused standards; this interaction does not occur for men. The implications of the interaction and the gender difference as well as the importance of teaching communication skills, and working with associated cognitions are discussed.     

Marital Status,Marital History,Body Weight,and Obesity

Marital status and marital history are associated with health. Marital history can be represented by the marital trajectory components of timing, transitions, sequence, and duration. We examined whether marital trajectory components add insights beyond marital status in predicting body weight in a retrospective analysis of 3,011 adults. Marital status findings revealed that married men were heavier than separated/divorced men, and never married women were heavier and more often obese than married women. Marital history findings showed that after adjusting for marital status, trajectory measures of age at first marriage, second marriage or second divorce, experiencing widowhood, and duration of separation/divorce were not clearly associated with body weight or obesity. Body weight and obesity appear to be associated with current marital status but not marital history.     

The times they are a changin': marital status and health differentials from 1972 to 2003

Although the meanings and rates of being married, divorced, separated, never-married, and widowed have changed significantly over the past several decades, we know very little about historical trends in the relationship between marital status and health. Our analysis of pooled data from the National Health Interview Survey from 1972 to 2003 shows that the self-rated health of the never-married has improved over the past three decades. Moreover, the gap between the married and the never married has steadily converged over time for men but not for women. In contrast, the self-rated health of the widowed, divorced, and separated worsened over time relative to the married, and the adverse effects of marital dissolution have increased more for women than for men. Our findings highlight the importance of social change in shaping the impact of marital status on self-reported health and challenge long-held assumptions about gender, marital status, and health.