Consequences of Later‐Life Divorce and Widowhood for Adult Well‐Being: A Call for the Convalescence Model

Abstract

Later‐life marital dissolution increasingly occurs through divorce, not widowhood, and this is reflected in the rising rate of divorce among older adults and gains in life expectancy. Yet the consequences of later‐life divorce for individual well‐being are poorly understood. Prior work on later‐life marital dissolution focuses on bereavement, positing either a short‐term, acute grief period or chronic, unrelenting grief. The divorce literature offers an analogous bifurcated explanation in the stress‐adjustment perspective on divorce. Adjustment either occurs during a brief crisis period or is elusive as divorce creates chronic strain. After describing these entrenched conceptual models of postdissolution adjustment, we introduce a third trajectory that is emergent in recent, longitudinal studies: the convalescence model. Drawing on Pearlin's stress process perspective, we theorize why spousal loss and divorce alike may result in a protracted period of recovery. We conclude with directions for future research to encourage conceptual and methodological advancements in the field.