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The course of psychological distress following threatened and actual conjugal bereavement1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

J. C. Hays ,
S. V. Kasl  and
S. C. Jacobs
J. C. Hays*
Affiliation:
Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC; Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
S. V. Kasl
Affiliation:
Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC; Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
S. C. Jacobs
Affiliation:
Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC; Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
*
2Address for correspondence: Dr Judith C. Hays, Box 3785C, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA
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Synopsis

We measured multiple dimensions of distress among spouses (N = 440) of patients hospitalized for serious illness or elective surgery and compared the course of distress over 2 years of follow-up among five groups according to whether and when spouses were bereaved. Distress was related to the severity of the patient's illness, the actuality and timing of the bereavement, as well as the gender and age of the respondent.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 24 , Issue 4 , November 1994 , pp. 917 - 927
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

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Footnotes

1

This paper was presented at the 119th Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association (Mental Health Section), Atlanta, GA, USA on 13 November 1991.

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