A Longitudinal Study of the Prevalence of Depressive Symptomatology in Elderly Widowed and Married Women

摘要: • The expected duration and magnitude of elevations in depressive symptomatology following bereavement have not been fully characterized. This study describes the natural history changes after widowhood, using Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. We studied 1144 elderly married women who completed a baseline interview; 136 were subsequently widowed, subset 409 still-married women, selected as controls, reinterviewed at 1, 6, 12, 18, 24 months bereavement. Widows more depressed than their controls every interview, including baseline. About 10% had high scores (>15) each interview. One month bereavement, proportion widows with rose to 58%; this declined but remained elevated 6 months. By 12 months, was comparable prebereavement levels. Only about 40% elevation widows' is potentially attributable