Temporary and Long-Term Consequences of Bereavement on Happiness

Abstract

In this article, we examine the temporary and long-term consequences of the death of a parent or child on happiness. According to set-point theory external conditions are expected to only have a short-term or limited influence on happiness. This directly contradicts the basic assumption of affective theories on happiness, which states that major life-events have a lasting influence on well-being. Moreover, we test whether the association between bereavement and happiness is equally strong across the life course. To test our hypotheses we make use of the fourth wave of the European Values Study. Our research findings demonstrate that people who lost their father, mother or child are more likely to feel unhappy than people without this experience. Ten years after the death of a parent or child we still find a significant difference in happiness between people who have and have not experienced this loss. The assumption of set-point theory, that major life evens only have a temporary impact on SWB, is not supported by our data. Moreover, the association between bereavement and SWB strongly differs across the life-course. We might even conclude that the age at which the loss occurred is more decisive for the strength of the association between bereavement and SWB than the duration of the loss.

Gender differential impact of bereavement on health outcomes: evidence from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, 2011–2015

“…While bereaved men experience worse mental health only in the first year after bereavement, bereaved women have much higher CES-D scores the second year after bereavement, in addition to a significant main bereavement effect. These results provided implications different from several previous studies, particularly those among high-income countries, where the impact of bereavement on health outcomes is more pronounced among men than among women [ 42 , 46 , 47 ]. Previous studies have observed a stronger effect of bereavement on mortality [ 42 , 46 ] and more severe impact on emotion and happiness [ 47 ] among men.…”

“…These results provided implications different from several previous studies, particularly those among high-income countries, where the impact of bereavement on health outcomes is more pronounced among men than among women [ 42 , 46 , 47 ]. Previous studies have observed a stronger effect of bereavement on mortality [ 42 , 46 ] and more severe impact on emotion and happiness [ 47 ] among men. However, examining the impact of bereavement on health among Taiwanese older adults, one study finds that bereaved men have worse self-assessed health while bereaved women have higher CES-D scores [ 44 ].…”

Long-Term Experiencing of Parental Death During Childhood: A Qualitative Analysis

“…The research on how adults experience childhood parental death is relatively limited compared to the research on how children experience childhood parental death. One study found that people who experience parental death during childhood are likely to experience short-term and long-term decreased subjective well-being (happiness), with more acute decreases in the short-term and limited improvement over time (Moor & Graaf, 2016). Results from retrospective interviews with adults who experienced childhood parental death indicated that long-term grief coping mechanisms included adjusting to the loss, receiving support from others, participating in psychotherapy, engaging in ongoing connection with the deceased parent, and moving forward (Koblenz, 2016).…”

Loving Nature

“…For some of the complexities involved, see Moor and de Graaf (). There are other backward‐looking, painful sensations that should not be confused with the loss of love, for example, those triggered by regret.…”