Record Details

Coping and Health Among Older Urban Widows, 1984-1986

Harvard Dataverse (Africa Rice Center, Bioversity International, CCAFS, CIAT, IFPRI, IRRI and WorldFish)

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Field Value
 
Title Coping and Health Among Older Urban Widows, 1984-1986
 
Identifier https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/OBQXC5
 
Creator Southwest Institute for Research on Women
 
Publisher Harvard Dataverse
 
Description This longitudinal study was designed to identify the strategies that help Mexican American and Anglo widows cope most effectively with stress following bereavement. A particular goal of the study was to explore both the different needs of Mexican American widows compared to Anglo widows, and some of the ways psychological studies must be adapted to successfully study this population. The study measured three aspects of health: physical symptom frequency, psychological symptom frequency, and functional disability (the inability to perform selected activities of daily living). The success of various methods of coping was measured by perceived physical and psychological health.




The sample consisted of 123 low-income widows residing in the Tucson area, including 64 Anglos, 53 Mexican Americans, and 6 Native Americans. All subjects were over forty years old, had incomes of less than $1000 per month, and had been widowed within six months of the initial interview.



The study involved interviews, conducted in either English or Spanish, that addressed structured open- and closed-ended questions exploring general background information, health histories, present life strains, and participants' past relationships with their deceased husbands. The interviews were designed to help identify changes in the widows' coping methods over time. The initial interview occurred within the first 6 months of widowhood; the two follow-up interviews occurred in six month intervals. One hundred and nine subjects completed all three interviews. The majority (88) of the interviews were conducted in English, 41 were conducted in Spanish, and 5 were conducted in both languages.




The Murray Research Archive holds interview transcripts for all study participants.
 
Subject Social Sciences
 
Type longitudinal, field study