Abstract
Research articles examining psychological adjustment to spousal bereavement in older adults (65+) were identified through searches on five electronical databases alongside forward citation and reference list searches. A total of 15 articles involving 686 unique participants were identified. Five characteristics were discovered which can facilitate and inhibit psychological adjustment to spousal bereavement in older adults: the pre-loss spousal relationship, social support, finding meaning and spirituality in loss, the surviving spouse's personality traits, and death characteristics. These findings support that concepts of 'meaning making' and social support should be incorporated into therapeutic work with bereaved spouses to help facilitate psychological adjustment.
Highlights
Research articles examining psychological adjustment to spousal bereavement in older adults (65þ) were identified through searches on five electronical databases alongside forward citation and reference list searches
Identifying and understanding the factors associated with psychological adjustment to spousal bereavement in older adults is of intrinsic interest to all psychological practitioners (Carr, 2004; Galatzer-Levy & Bonanno, 2012; Laidlaw, 2015; Nesse et al, 2003; Parkes & Prigerson, 2013)
Despite the extensive nature of interest within this research area, the increase in percentage of older adults worldwide (United Nation Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Dynamics, 2019) justifies that continuous investigation and consolidation of information is required. This notion has been reinforced within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic with most COVID-19 deaths worldwide being reported among individuals over the age of 65. It is not yet known how such an unprecedented rise in spousal bereavement will impact the psychological wellbeing of the cohort of surviving spouses nor how psychological and mental health support services will cope with the increased demand for access to service provision
Summary
Research articles examining psychological adjustment to spousal bereavement in older adults (65þ) were identified through searches on five electronical databases alongside forward citation and reference list searches. Despite the extensive nature of interest within this research area, the increase in percentage of older adults worldwide (United Nation Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Dynamics, 2019) justifies that continuous investigation and consolidation of information is required This notion has been reinforced within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic with most COVID-19 deaths worldwide being reported among individuals over the age of 65. Spousal bereavement is an intense and distressing experience (Laidlaw, 2015; Michael & Cooper, 2013; Parkes & Prigerson, 2013; Stroebe et al, 2001) It can promote personal growth as shown in Tedeschi et al.’s (1998) and Linley and Joseph’s (2004) work on growth following adversity. Contemporary models of bereavement provide conceptualisations of loss-responses which align with principles of psychological adjustment
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