A phenomenological study was conducted to understand the lived experience of spousal bereavement from the perspective of young Canadian widows. Five themes emerged following inductive analysis of interview transcripts conducted with five women who were under the age of 45 at the time of their husband's death: a) “Losses”; b) “Who Am I?”; c) “Staying Connected through Memories”; d) “Living through the Firsts”; and e) “Support Systems.” Increased understanding from the perspective of the bereaved women, along with strategies and interventions for those working with this group of women, may provide health care professionals with skills to better assist this client population.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BallJ. F. (1977). Widow's grief: The impact of age and mode of death. Omega, 7(4), 307–333.
2.
BlanchardG.BlanchardE., & BeckerT. (1976). The young widow: Depressive symptomatology throughout the grief process. Psychiatry, 39, 394–399.
3.
BoeckL. (1991). Young widows. Free Inquiry in Creative Sociology, 19, (213–220).
4.
BowmanT. (1997). Facing loss of dreams: A special kind of grief. International Journal of Palliative Nursing, 3(2), 76–80.
5.
CastanedaD., & Burns-GloverA. (2008). Women's friendships and romantic relationships. In DenmarkF. L. & PaludiM. A. (Eds). Psychology of Women: A handbook of issues and theories (3rd ed., pp. 332–352). Westport, CT: Praeger.
6.
CharltonR.SheahanK.SmithG., & CampbellI. (2001). Spousal bereavement: Implications for health. Family Practice, 18(6), 614–618.
DaggettL. M. (2002). Living with loss: Middle aged men face spousal bereavement. Qualitative Health Research, 12(5), 625–639.
9.
DavisS. (1996). The enduring power of friendship. American Health, 15(6), 60–63.
10.
DermanD. S. (1999). Grief and attachment in young widowhood. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA.
11.
DouglassB., & MoustakasC. (1985). Heuristic inquiry: The internal search to know. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 25(3), 39–55.
12.
DukeS. (1998). An explanation of anticipatory grief: The lived experience of people during their spouses' terminal illness and in bereavement. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 28(4), 829–839.
13.
FolkenM. (1991). The importance of group support for widowed persons. Journal for Specialists in Group Work, 16(3), 172–177.
14.
GardnerK. A., & CutronaC. E. (2004). Social support communication in families. In VangelistiA. L. (Ed.), Handbook of family communication (pp. 495–513). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
15.
GuckinT. M. (2002). Younger women whose significant others have died and who are rearing children. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Walden University, Minneapolis, MN.
16.
HuartS., & O'DonnellM. (1993). The road to recovery from grief and bereavement. Caring Magazine, 11, 71–75.
17.
KaimannD. S. (2002). Common threads: Nine widows journeys through love, loss and healing. Amityville, NY: Baywood.
18.
KaunonenM.PaiviA. K.PaunonenM., & ErjantiH. (2000). Death in the Finnish family: Experiences of spousal bereavement. International Journal of Nursing Practice, 6, 127–134.
19.
KowalskiS., & BondmassM. (2008). Physiological and psychological symptoms of grief in widows. Research in Nursing and Health, 31, 23–30.
20.
LareseC. (2008). Supportive care in the role transition to widowhood. Journal of Hospice and Palliative Nursing, 10,(3), 164–169.
LopataH. Z. (1979). Women as widows: Support systems. New York: Elsevier.
23.
LopataH. Z. (1996). Current widowhood: Myths and realities. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
24.
MoustakasC. (1990). Heuristic research: Design, methodology and applications. London: Sage.
25.
NeimeyerR. A. (2000). Lessons of loss: A guide to coping. Keystone Heights, FL: PsychoEducational Resources, Inc.
26.
NeimeyerR. A. (2006). Widowhood, grief and the quest for meaning: A narrative perspective. In CarrD. A.NesseR. M., & WortmanC. (Eds.), Spousal bereavement in late life (pp. 227–252). New York: Springer.
27.
NeugartenB. L. (1979). Time, age and the life cycle. American Journal of Psychiatry, 136, 887–894.
28.
OttC. H., & LuegerR. J. (2002). Patterns of change in mental health status during the first two years of spousal bereavement. Death Studies, 26, 387–411.
29.
ParkesC. M., & BrownR. J. (1972). Health after bereavement: A controlled study of young Boston widows and widowers. Psychosomatic Medicine, 34(5), 449–461.
30.
PattonM. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
31.
PearlinL. I. (1982). Discontinuities in the study of aging. In HarevenT. K. & AdamsT. J. (Eds.), Aging and life course transitions: An interdisciplinary perspective (pp. 55–74). New York: The Guilford Press.
32.
PolitD., & HunglerB. (1997). Essentials of nursing research: Methods, appraisal and utilization. New York: Lippincott.
33.
RandoT. (1986). Comprehensive analysis of anticipatory grief. In RandoT. A. (Ed.), Loss and anticipatory grief (pp. 3–37). Toronto, ON: Lexington Books.
34.
RogersJ.VachonM.LyallW. A.SheldonA., & FreemanS. J. (1980). A self help program for widows as an independent community service. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 31(12), 844–847.
35.
ShafferS. L. (1993). Young widows: Rebuilding identity and personal growth following spousal loss. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of San Francisco, California.
36.
SilvermanP. (2004). Widow to widow: How the bereaved help one another (2nd ed.). New York: Brunner-Routledge.
37.
SilvermanP., & KlassD. (1996). Introduction: What's the problem? In KlassD.SilvermanP., & NickmanS. (Eds.), Continuing bonds: New understandings of grief (pp. 1–24). Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis.
38.
Streubert-SpeizleH., & CarpenterD. (2003). Qualitative research in nursing: Advancing the humanistic imperative (3rd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins.
39.
StroebeW., & StroebeM. (1987). Bereavement and health: The psychological and physical consequences of partner loss. New York: Cambridge University Press.
40.
VachonM. (1976). Grief and bereavement following the death of a spouse. Canadian Psychiatric Association Journal, 21(1), 35–44.
41.
VandeCreekL. (1988). Sources of support in conjugal bereavement. Hospice Journal, 4, 38–92.
42.
van den HoonardD.(2002). Attitudes of older widows and widowers in New Brunswick, Canada towards new partnerships. Ageing International, 27(4), 79–92.
43.
WalterC. (2003). The loss of a life partner: Narratives of the bereaved. New York: Columbia University Press.
44.
ZisookS., & SchuchterS. R. (1991). Early psychological reaction to the stress of widowhood. Psychiatry, 54, 320–333.
