@article{08a3a525b1a14fc49d1fd26ea975bd5f,
title = "Absent but Not Gone: Interdependence in Couples{\textquoteright} Quality of Life Persists After a Partner{\textquoteright}s Death",
abstract = "Spouses influence each other{\textquoteright}s psychological functioning and quality of life. To explore whether this interdependence continues after a person becomes widowed, we tested whether deceased spouses{\textquoteright} characteristics were associated with their widowed partners{\textquoteright} later quality of life using couples drawn from a multinational sample of aging adults. Independent subsamples (ns = 221 and 325) were assessed before and after a spouse{\textquoteright}s death. Regressions revealed that deceased partners{\textquoteright} quality of life prior to their death positively predicted their spouses{\textquoteright} quality of life after the partners{\textquoteright} death, even when we controlled for spouses{\textquoteright} prior quality of life to account for environmental factors shared within couples. Further, widowed participants{\textquoteright} quality of life was lower than nonwidowed couples{\textquoteright} 2 years before and after their partners{\textquoteright} death, but was equivalent 4 years prior. Finally, the strength of the association between partners{\textquoteright} earlier quality of life and participants{\textquoteright} later quality of life did not differ between widowed and nonwidowed participants. These findings suggest that interdependence in quality of life continues after one{\textquoteright}s partner has passed away.",
keywords = "attachment, continuing bonds, interdependence, quality of life, widowhood",
author = "Bourassa, {Kyle J.} and Knowles, {Lindsey M.} and Sbarra, {David A.} and O{\textquoteright}Connor, {Mary Frances}",
note = "Funding Information: This research used data from Study of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) Waves 1, 2, and 4 (DOIs: 10.6103/SHARE.w1.260, 10.6103/SHARE.w2.260, 10.6103/SHARE.w4.111, respectively). The SHARE data collection has been primarily funded by the European Commission Fifth Framework Programme (QLK6-CT-2001-00360), Sixth Framework Programme (SHARE-I3: RII-CT-2006-062193, COMPARE: CIT5-CT-2005-028857), and Seventh Framework Programme (SHARE-PREP: No. 211909, SHARE-LEAP: No. 227822, SHARE M4: No. 261982). Additional funding from the German Ministry of Education and Research, the U.S. National Institute on Aging (U01_AG09740- 13S2, P01_AG005842, P01_AG08291, P30_AG12815, R21_ AG025169, Y1-AG-4553-01, IAG_BSR06-11, OGHA_04-064), and from various national funding sources is gratefully acknowledged (see www.share-project.org). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2015, {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2015.",
year = "2016",
month = feb,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1177/0956797615618968",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "27",
pages = "270--281",
journal = "Psychological Science",
issn = "0956-7976",
publisher = "SAGE Publications Inc.",
number = "2",
}