Weathering the storm: Self-efficacy, social support processes, and health-related coping strategies among the Detroit-area widowed

Tariqah A Nuriddin, Purdue University

Abstract

Research has indicated that bereavement associated with the loss of a loved one may result in depression, a decline in social relationships, and poorer health amongst the bereaved. Studies on bereavement suggest that bereaved persons try to have continuity of roles in their lives and eventually recover from the loss of a loved one. The current study examines whether widowed persons engage in health-related coping strategies (H-RCS) (ie. smoking, drinking, and exercise) as an initial result of spousal loss. Using the Stress and Coping Model posited by Lazarus and Folkman (1984), it is hypothesized that widowed persons with greater levels of social support, religiosity, income, self-efficacy, and self-rated health will be less likely to engage in health-related coping behaviors than their counterparts. The current study utilizes secondary data from the Changing Lives of Older Couples study (CLOC), a prospective study of bereavement, and Ordinary Least Squares, Negative Binomial Regression, and Logistic Regression to analyze the proposed relationship between widowhood and health-related coping strategies across three available waves of data collected 6 months, 12 months, and 18 months after spousal loss. Findings reveal that bereavement is indeed related to engagement in H-RCS, although this effect is moderated primarily through self-efficacy. More specifically, bereavement influenced physical inactivity and health behavior at Wave 1 and generated higher daily cigarette consumption by Wave 3. The only exception was in the Wave 3 regression equation where lower levels of bereavement predicted physical inactivity. This finding suggests that low bereavement may actually be deleterious to health depending on the type of health-related coping strategy examined. No significance was found between bereavement and any health-related coping strategy by Wave 2 and across all significant bereavement models there was no significant alcohol effect. The most pronounced effect for bereavement outcomes were for physical inactivity models at Waves 1 and 2. The results of this study do not provide support that bereaved adults engage in alcohol consumption as a result of spousal loss. However, findings do reveal that the widowed may be particularly susceptible to engaging in H-RCS 6 months and 18 months after spousal loss.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Perrucci, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Gerontology|Psychotherapy|Families & family life|Personal relationships|Sociology

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