Wearing the Garment of Widowhood: Variations in Time Since Spousal Loss Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults |
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| Authors: | Beverly Rosa Williams Patricia Sawyer Richard M. Allman |
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| Affiliation: | 1. The Birmingham/Atlanta VA Geriatric Research , Education and Clinical Center , Birmingham , AL;2. Department of Medicine, Division of Gerontology, Geriatrics, and Palliative Care , University of Alabama at Birmingham , Birmingham , AL;3. UAB Center for Aging , Birmingham , AL Beverly.williams3@va.gov;5. Department of Medicine, Division of Gerontology, Geriatrics, and Palliative Care , University of Alabama at Birmingham , Birmingham , AL;6. UAB Center for Aging , Birmingham , AL;7. UAB Center for Aging , Birmingham , AL |
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| Abstract: | We examine how the passage of time since spousal loss varies by social and demographic characteristics, using data from the University of Alabama at Birmingham Study of Aging. In multivariate analyses, African American race, female sex, lower income, and higher risk of social isolation had significant and independent associations with variation in time since spousal loss. African American women were at highest risk for long-term widowhood. Accurate characterizations of widowhood among community-dwelling older adults must consider variation in the length of time individuals are living as widowed persons and socioeconomic concomitants of long-term widowhood. |
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| Keywords: | widow bereavement older women Black women community-dwelling social isolation |
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