Determinants of adjustment to bereavement in younger widows and widowers

Abstract

This chapter reviews the major findings of the Tubingen longitudinal study of bereavement, an in-depth study of younger widows and widowers that provides information about health deterioration following bereavement, the course of recovery and coping strategies over a 2-year period, and the risk factors that affect adjustment to the loss. The study employed methodological safeguards to avoid some of the pitfalls that typically threaten the validity of in-depth studies of bereavement.