Gallagher D E, Thompson L W, Peterson J A
Int J Aging Hum Dev. 1981;14(2):79-95. doi: 10.2190/j72r-28rk-qvpj-p71q.
A spouse's death requires more readjustment on the part of the bereaved than any other stressful life event. This finding holds across the many age groups and cultural backgrounds that have been studied. Although it is unclear as to whether the stress of bereavement is greater for women than for men, for the young than for the old, for one socioeconomic level or for another, a critical review of the literatures suggests the following: 1) Negative changes in physical health, mortality rate and mental health status usually accompany widowhood; 2) Complex social-psychological variables such as the individual's characteristic ways of coping with stress (coping strength), the adequacy of the social network - plus other factors such as income and religious commitment - may attenuate widowhood's negative impact. Suggestions for further research include studies exploring differential adaptation to widowhood across age groups and in elderly men and women, and longitudinal studies tracing the process of recovery from acute grief.
配偶的离世比其他任何重大生活压力事件都更需要未亡人进行调整。这一发现适用于所研究的众多年龄组和文化背景。虽然尚不清楚丧偶压力对女性是否比对男性更大，对年轻人是否比对老年人更大，对某一社会经济阶层是否比对另一阶层更大，但对相关文献的批判性综述表明如下几点：1）身体健康、死亡率和心理健康状况的负面变化通常伴随着丧偶；2）复杂的社会心理变量，如个人应对压力的独特方式（应对能力）、社会网络的充足程度，再加上其他因素，如收入和宗教信仰，可能会减轻丧偶的负面影响。进一步研究的建议包括探索不同年龄组以及老年男性和女性对丧偶的差异适应情况的研究，以及追踪从急性悲痛中恢复过程的纵向研究。
