School of Nursing, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
J Clin Nurs. 2010 Mar;19(5-6):856-66. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2702.2009.02947.x.
To describe difficulties encountered by older widows in Taiwan and the impact of intrinsic or extrinsic religiosity on their coping strategies during early widowhood.
There is very limited information about how Taiwan's widows cope with their bereavement and no studies reporting the relationship between religious beliefs and healthy adjustment during this distressing period.
Between-method qualitative and quantitative triangulation was used. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and transcribed data were analysed by critical thematic analysis.
Twenty women in Taiwan, >65 years old, (mean = 72.95) were interviewed within three years of being widowed. There were two informant groups: those with intrinsic religious beliefs and those with extrinsic religious beliefs. They all reported intrapersonal and interpersonal problems. Several major coping strategies arose: 'practising positive or negative attitudes for adaptation'; 'using person-focused actions'; and 'taking the initiative or passively seeking help from others or helping others'. Informants with intrinsic religious beliefs reported fewer coping problems by holding positive attitudes and taking multiple actions for adaptation. The extrinsic religious group had more negative adaptation attitudes, such as withdrawal and low self-esteem and practised less faith religious activities in worshipping ancestors, experiencing fatalism and using divination. They reported more coping problems than the intrinsic religious group.
Widows in Taiwan have different coping problems and strategies in postbereavement adjustment, affected by their different religious beliefs systems. More research is required to establish the generalisabilty of these findings.
Widows in Taiwan need to be assessed for their religious belief systems and how this affects their ability to cope during bereavement. Clinicians should actively provide grief support and encourage new methods of social adaptation, especially with widows with extrinsic religious beliefs who may have less self-esteem and negative adaptation behaviours.
描述台湾老年寡妇在丧偶早期所遇到的困难，以及内在或外在宗教信仰对其应对策略的影响。
关于台湾寡妇如何应对丧亲之痛的信息非常有限，也没有研究报告在这个痛苦时期宗教信仰与健康调整之间的关系。
采用定性和定量的混合方法三角测量法。对 20 名台湾丧偶 3 年内的 65 岁以上女性进行了半结构化访谈，并对转录数据进行了批判性主题分析。
共有 20 名女性（平均年龄 72.95 岁）接受了访谈。她们分为内在宗教信仰组和外在宗教信仰组。两组均报告了人际和个人问题。出现了几种主要的应对策略：“培养积极或消极的适应态度”、“采取以人为主的行动”和“主动或被动地寻求他人帮助或帮助他人”。内在宗教信仰组报告的应对问题较少，因为他们持有积极的态度并采取多种适应措施。外在宗教信仰组的适应态度更为消极，如退缩、自卑，对祭祖、宿命论和占卜等信仰活动的参与度较低，他们报告的应对问题比内在宗教信仰组多。
台湾寡妇在丧亲后调整过程中存在不同的应对问题和策略，这受到其不同的宗教信仰体系的影响。需要进一步的研究来确定这些发现的普遍性。
台湾的寡妇需要评估其宗教信仰体系，以及这如何影响她们在丧亲期间的应对能力。临床医生应该积极提供悲伤支持，并鼓励寡妇们采取新的社交适应方法，特别是对于外在宗教信仰的寡妇，因为她们可能自尊心较低，适应行为较为消极。
