Bereavement in older adults: individual challenge and contextual variables in different models

The loss of a spouse in old age is one of the most significant, but least investigated events in the life cycle. With increasing life expectancy, widowhood in older adults occurs increasingly later in the life cycle. It is an expectable event and may be advantageously conceptualized as a major psychosocial transition that involves the reconfiguration of the meaning of life and its purpose. The present article discusses some of the main models of the grieving process and the effect of some individual and contextual variables on reactions regarding the loss of a spouse. It focuses mainly on Stroebe and Schut dual process model as well as on its theoretical and practical implications.

Bereavement; older adults; dual process; widowhood