Widowed Young Parents: Changing Perspectives on Remarriage and Cohabitation Rates and Their Determinants

Abstract

This study investigated the incidence and determinants of remarriage and cohabitation among a sample of 35 widowed parents of school-aged children. Data from a U. S. longitudinal study of parentally bereaved children, with surviving parents of mean age 41, revealed—by contrast with prior findings and general lore—that virtually half (47. 5%) of the widows and widowers were either remarried or in substantial cohabitation relationships within five years post-death. Contrary to previous findings, there were no differences in remarriage rates between men and women. Other factors expected to influence the likelihood of remarriages, such as number and age of children, did not; income change pre–post death was a determinant for widows, as was widow's age within this relatively young sample of widows. There was a trend for surviving parents who exhibited fewer symptoms of psychopathology (on the BSI) at the initial Wave I assessment to more likely be remarried or cohabiting at Wave II than those exhibiting higher levels of psychopathology at the initial assessment. Possible interpretations of the divergence between prior reports or assumptions and these data are noted, as is the importance of studying the role of surviving parent remarriage and/or cohabitation(s) intrinsically, and correspondingly, their effects upon parentally bereaved children.