Long-term effects of losing a spouse or child in a motor vehicle crash.

Abstract

In this article we examine the long-term effects of the sudden, unexpected loss of a spouse or child. In the spouse study, interviews were conducted with 39 individuals who had lost a spouse in a motor vehicle crash 4 to 7 years ago and with 39 matched controls. In the parent study, interviews were conducted with 41 parents who had lost a child in a crash and with 41 matched controls. Control respondents were matched to bereaved respondents case-by-case on the basis of sex, age, income, education, and number and ages of children. Significant differences between bereaved spouses and controls were revealed on several indicators of general functioning, including depression and other psychiatric symptoms, social functioning, psychological well-being, reactivity to good events, and future worries and concerns. For the most part, these differences persisted when variables such as present family income and present marital status were statistically controlled. Comparisons between bereaved and control parents also revealed significant differences on some measures of general functioning (especially depression), but these were not as pervasive as the differences obtained in the spouse study. Responses to questions about current thoughts and feelings suggest that the deceased continued to occupy the thoughts and conversations of bereaved spouses and parents. Moreover, a large percentage of respondents (from 30% to 85%, depending on the question), continued to ruminate about the accident or what might have been done to prevent it, and they appeared to be unable to accept, resolve, or find any meaning in the loss. Taken together, the data provide little support for traditional notions of recovery from the sudden, unexpected loss of a spouse or child.

Conservation of resources: A new attempt at conceptualizing stress.

“…I have argued previously, however, that this type of transformation should not be romanticized as occurring for all stressors (Hobfoll, 1985a). Many tragic stressors have little redeeming value (Lehman, Wortman, & Williams, 1987). Still, many everyday stressors are neither clearly positive nor negative and so are most likely to be open to personal appraisal.…”

Positive Outcomes Following Bereavement: Paths to Posttraumatic Growth

“…A "natural death", at the end of a long life, tends to be much easier to accept (Lehman, Wortman, & Williams, 1987), and allows for a clearer sense of meaning to be found . On the other hand, unexpected deaths that are less consistent with most assumptive world views, such as the death of a young child, are less "natural", and often lead to greater distress and more growth ).…”

The time course of grief reactions to spousal loss: Evidence from a national probability sample.

“…Not surprisingly, it is easier to make sense of a natural death than a sudden death. For example, Lehman, Wortman, and Williams (1987) found that of those who lost their spouse in a car accident, 68% had not found meaning in the loss 4 -7 years later. In contrast, in a sample of elderly, conjugally bereaved individuals whose spouses died of various causes (Bonanno et al, 2004), most did not search for meaning (71% 6 months postloss and 72% 18 months postloss).…”