Adjustment to spousal bereavement and successful aging

Research Project

Project/Area Number	11610162
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Section	一般
Research Field	教育・社会系心理学
Research Institution	Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology
Principal Investigator	KAWAAI Chieko Dementia Intervention Research Group, Research Scientist, 東京都老人総合研究所・痴呆介入研究グループ, 研究員 (00142646)
Project Period (FY)	1999 – 2002
Project Status	Completed (Fiscal Year 2002)
Budget Amount *help	¥3,500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,500,000) Fiscal Year 2002: ¥800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000) Fiscal Year 2001: ¥1,000,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000) Fiscal Year 2000: ¥1,000,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000) Fiscal Year 1999: ¥700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000)
Keywords	spousal bereavement / successful aging / depression / loneliness / longitudinal study / logistic regression analysis / multiple regression analysis / 中高年 / 悲嘆 / 援助の受領 / 有益なサポート / 追跡調査 / 日にち薬 / 適応 / 精神的健康 / 配偶者との死別 / ライフイベント / 後期高齢者
Research Abstract	The objective of this study was to prove the hypothesis that successful aging was predicted by the recovering process during the first few years of bereavement. Interview study was held three times in sixteen years after bereavement, for which subject was 184 middle and old aged people : average age was 70.9 and the time since the separation was 8 months. The second interviews with 136 interviewees were held one year after, and the third interviews with 51 interviewees were held 15 years after the first interviews respectively. We conducted multiple logistic regression analysis and multiple regression analysis. Indices for successful aging (wholesomeness, mental health and psychological liveliness scale)were the dependable variables, and the indices for bereavement recovery (transformation of depression and loneliness scale) was the independent variables. Results showed that the depression level at the first interview was a significant factor to predict the sickness and death at the second interview, however such was not the case at the third interview. Furthermore, loneliness was found to be an important factor when predicting mental health and welfare at the third interview. When the level of loneliness increased by the second interview than at the first, it was revealed that there was a risk in sickness and death for the third interview. If the level of loneliness increased or remained high after bereavement, the mental health condition during the third interview was found to be poor. On the other hand, as loneliness decreased, welfare during the third interview became higher. We concluded that a change in loneliness after bereavement was the key factor in suggesting the process of successful aging.