Widowhood can occur anytime a married couple's life. However, it is more so for the man to die first than the woman in their later years of life. According to the text, men die an average of 8 years earlier than women and there are 4.4 widows for every one widower. But, in this article, we explain the differences of men and women that learn to cope with their loss. Also this article provided research based on older adults that help analyze the relationships each couple had during a certain period.
This 1987 research did a survey of 1,532 married men and women age 65 and older. "Over the years, the researchers have monitored the deaths of participants and followed up with interviews of the surviving spouses at six months, 18 months, and four years after their losses." They also re-interviewed married couples who hadn't lost their partners, and then they matched these married couples with the widows and widowers on different variables such as income, education, and health.
In conclusion of this study, they have found that the closer the marital relationship was the more depressed men and women were likely to be after their partners have died. Those who survived were better off economically, was measured as by the home ownership, "were likely to be more depressed than peers who lived in apartments or retirement communities." Women in this study that were highly dependent on their husbands for certain tasks such as financial management and home repairs were at higher risk for the grief as widows. Also women have a sudden death shock when it comes to death because they think that women are used to the role of caregivers and don't find it stressful as men if it was after a certain amount of time. As for men, they handle their wives deaths if they are quick and unexpected. Furthermore, men and women regularly have different types of relationships. "Women may have friends to turn to for support during the long and drawn-out process of widowhood, whereas men may withdraw from others and seek closeness only from their dying wives.
