Während die Verwitwungsforschung negative körperliche, psychische und soziale Folgen auf Individualebene vielseitig aufzuzeigen vermochte, wurde kaum untersucht, inwiefern diese individuellen Auswirkungen einer Verwitwung im Alter von Kohortenzugehörigkeit und historischem Kontext mitdeterminiert sind. Vor dem Hintergrund, dass sich sowohl Geschlechtsrollenverständnis, Familienstrukturen, aber auch das Gesundheits- und Sozialsystem in unserem Lande stark verändert haben, ist davon auszugehen, dass Verwitwete unterschiedlicher Kohorten sich hinsichtlich Ressourcen und Belastungen unterscheiden. Der vorliegende Beitrag untersucht mit Hilfe von Daten des IP13 des Nationalen Forschungsschwerpunkts LIVES ('Democratisation of old Age'), inwiefern die subjektiv empfundenen psychophysischen, sozialen und finanziellen Folgen der Verwitwung zwischen zwei Kohorten variieren. Dazu werden Daten zweier Kohorten von verwitweten Personen aus den Kantonen Genf und Wallis im Alter von 65 Jahren und älter verglichen. Die eine Befragung fand 1979 statt (455 Verwitwete), die andere 2011 (298 Verwitwete). Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass sich in den berichteten Schwierigkeiten nach einer Verwitwung eine Verbesserung der ökonomischen und sozialen Situation in der Schweiz in den vergangenen dreissig Jahren widerspiegelt, insbesondere für Frauen. Im Gegensatz dazu zeigen sich bei den psychischen Auswirkungen keine bedeutenden periodenspezifischen Veränderungen. Es spricht somit vieles dafür, dass der Verlust des Partners/der Partnerin psychisch auch bei günstigen sozialen Rahmenbedingungen ein kritisches Lebensereignis darstellt, das nach wie vor individuell zu bewältigen ist.
"Bisherige Forschung hat die Verwitwung entweder primär als soziales oder als individuelles Ereignis untersucht, selten jedoch wurden beide Perspektiven verbunden. Zudem ist wenig darüber bekannt, inwiefern bisherige Forschungsergebnisse Perioden- oder Kohorteneffekte wiederspiegeln. In diesem Beitrag wird die persönliche Bilanzierung nach der Verwitwung älterer Schweizer Frauen und Männer im Geschlechterund Zeitvergleich untersucht1. Die Datenbasis beruht auf Befragungen von 1.197 verwitweten Frauen und Männern (Alter: 65-102 Jahre), welche 1979, 1994 und 2011 durchgeführt wurden. Während sich die wirtschaftlichen und sozialen Rahmenbedingungen nach einer Verwitwung – namentlich bei Frauen – im Zeitvergleich verbessert haben, zeigen sich bezüglich psychischer Herausforderungen einer Verwitwung keine periodenspezifischen Veränderungen. Psychisch bleibt der Partnerverlust auch bei günstigen Sozialbedingungen ein kritisches Lebensereignis, das individualisiert bewältigt werden muss." (Autorenreferat)
The loss of an intimate partner in the second half of life is a major challenge and a critical life event. Even if, for most individuals, a critical life event is stressful and psychologically and socially destabilizing, the ways of coping with it and the long-term outcomes (ranging from increased vulnerability to stabilization and growth) are very different. Whether or not this critical life event turns out to be a chronic stressor depends on the individual's personal and social resources. Based on recent research, we propose a complementary and extended view of the crisis and chronic stress models of adjustment to critical life events (Amato, 2000) Lorenz et al., 2006). In fact, turning point experiences bear the potential for new chances, the awakening of a person's potential, overcoming the crisis and contributing to personal growth. For others, however, the same turning point is not only a crisis, but can also mean the onset of chronic disadvantage and stress with the threat of loss of control and increased physical, psychological and social vulnerability. What we also know from life-span and differential psychology is that there is a considerable continuity in psychological well-being over the life-span, independent of adversities and losses (Perrig-Chiello, Jäggi, Buschkühl, Stähelin, & Perrig, 2009). Based on these insights, the rationale of our project is a transactional model of personality, which claims that individuals try to cope with negative life events (turning points) by activating their available personal and external resources. This view postulates that individuals – based on their biographical experience (e.g., attachment style, past experiences with silent and age-normed transitions, quality of relationship with partner/spouse) and on their actual physical, psychological (e.g., personality; control beliefs; self-esteem; and personal, familial and cultural values) and social resources (e.g., having children, relatives, friends to rely upon) – develop strategies, which allow them to adapt their life perspectives in order to bring continuity in their lives and assure their well-being. We therefore expect that there is a considerable biographical continuity in the way individuals cope with critical life events, and that the loss of an intimate partner is solved in very similar ways. We conceptualize these strategies as adaptive mental mechanisms (such as control beliefs). Based on an integrated bottom-up/top-down conception of subjective well-being (Schimmak, 2007), we expect that the impact of both top-down (dispositional variables, personality) and bottom-up variables (life conditions, financial satisfaction) are essential for the explanation of the outcome variables. However, we anticipate that top-down processes contribute substantial amounts of variance to well-being measures compared to bottom-up effects, which are expected to be less important. Based on subjective well-being research, we hypothesize that the process of coping with loss involves several phases. First, the period during which the loss occurs (i.e., the first year of loss) is a time of destabilization (periphase). This is followed by a phase of active adaptation to the new situation (second and third years after the loss, past-phase). Finally, a phase of stabilization and return to the habitual baseline level can be expected. Building upon this theoretical framework and considering the different research gaps outlined above, this project will focus on the following areas: a) The incidence of bereavement, separation and divorce (cause, point in time) in a representative sample belonging to two age groups (middle and old age). These groups will represent both the German and French-speaking parts of Switzerland. b) The reasons and circumstances of bereavement, separation and divorce, i.e., the quality of the relationship, marital and sexual satisfaction, agency (initiator or reactor), perceived level of anticipation and control (mastery). c) The determinants that lead either to (increased) vulnerability or growth after experiencing the loss of an intimate partner. This analysis will take into account the following individual resources: psychological resources (personality; coping style; character strength; personal, familial, cultural and spiritual values; control beliefs; early childhood experiences/attachment; experience of silent and age-normed transitions), social resources (having children, partner, parents, friends), and financial resources and SES. d) The short-term and long-term outcomes and the process of coping with this critical life event: psychological well-being (mastery, life satisfaction, sense of life), physical well-being (subjective health, health complaints, medication intake), social well-being (emotional and social loneliness, quality of contacts) and financial well-being in the different phases of coping. We will examine the first year of loss (phase of destabilization, peri-phase), the phase of adaptation (2-3 years after loss) and the post-phase or phase of stabilization (3-5 years after loss).
More specially, tthe scientific goals are: - To initiate a prospective study, where men and women recently divorced and widowed after a long-term marriage are compared to long-term married persons (controls) (data collection 1st wave 2012; second wave 2014, third wave 2016). - To investigate the reasons and circumstances of bereavement, separation and divorce, i.e., the quality of the relationship, marital and sexual satisfaction, agency (initiator or reactor), perceived level of anticipation and control. - To analyse the determinants that lead either to vulnerability or growth after experiencing the break-up of marriage or partnership. These analyses will take into account the following individual resources: past critical life events and life trajectories (using a life calendar); psychological resources (personality; coping style; character strength; personal, familial, cultural and spiritual values; control beliefs; early childhood experiences/attachment; experience of silent and age-normed transitions), social resources (children, partner, parents, friends), financial resources and SES. - To examine the process of psychosocial adaptation to the critical life event and the short-term and long-term outcomes: psychological well-being, physical well-being (subjective health, health complaints, and medication intake), social well-being (emotional and social loneliness, quality of contacts) and financial well-being in the different phases of coping. We will examine the first phase of loss (phase of destabilization, i.e. first two years), the phase of adaptation (2-5 years after loss) and the phase of stabilization (5> years after loss). The middle and long-term scientific goals of the study are (2013/2014 and beyond): - Dissemination of research findings (publication in national and international journals, presentation at national and international conferences), and practice (publications, presentations, training, teaching).
Research aimes Phase II (2015 - 2018):
- Continuation of survey (3rd wave 2016): a) to track the trajectories of psychological adaptation to spousal loss and marital breakup after a long-term relationship; b) to explore continuities and change in marital satisfaction in long-term married. - Intervention for vulnerable individuals (complicated grief after separation, divorce, widowhood) recruited from the 2nd wave 2014 (and additinal recruitement). - Exploration of identity processes and social groups as resources for overcoming psychological vulnerability (especially due to loneliness) in older age.
This project proposes to investigate the living conditions of the aged population in Switzerland and to address the diversity of these conditions using an interdisciplinary approach. The study will rely on a survey that will be conducted in 2011 in two French-speaking, two German-speaking areas, and Ticino. Rooted in a common theoretical model, shared concepts, and common objectives, together, we aim to solve the tension between continuity (comparison of our findings with studies conducted in 1979 and 1994) and innovation (better tools, new issues, and a more national representation). In the past century, industrialized countries - among which Switzerland - have witnessed a drastic increase of life expectancy, and a decrease in the prevalence of dependency decreased among the elderly. While a substantial number of positive changes occurred, nothing ensures that similar trends are persisting. Indeed, new generations carrying their own their specificities will soon reach the age of retirement and old age. Further, the characteristics of the aged population in 2011 cannot be satisfactorily predicted on the basis of previous data since the structure of the aged population has drastically changed over the last decades. The massive aging reported in the immigrant population in Switzerland constitutes a clear example of such a compositional change. Provided these various transformations, the proposed project intends to address two major issues simultaneously: heterogeneity among the elderly, i.e., diversity and inequalities, and sustainability of the previous positive trends in terms of social participation, health, and longevity. Our theoretical approach will be centered on the concept of resources, as conceived in the lifespan psychology and the life course theory. Globally, our research design considers how resources are built through individual lives embedded in family trajectories and socioeconomic, cultural, and political contexts. Thus, we will first estimate how health, family, residency, and occupational lifelong trajectories have constructed the pool of resources available to aged individuals. We further intend to assess the diversity of these resources and the way they are managed by individuals to best maintain an active life, high levels of well-being, and autonomy. After connecting the past to the present, we will also consider how, in the current experiences of aging, available individual resources interact with accessible sociostructural resources. From that perspective, the comparison of five different political regions (Geneva, Valais, Bern, Basel, and Ticino) will be highly profitable. Moreover, in Geneva and Valais, we will benefit greatly from the unique opportunity to address recent historical changes through a comparison of our results with a new analysis of the surveys conducted in 1979 and 1994. This constitutes a unique opportunity in the European continent to examine the evolution of the aged population across the last 30 years. Finally, such a resource-based, interdisciplinary approach will provide a powerful tool to identify the most relevant predictors of well-being, in the past and the present, as well as the levers on which individual action and social policies can push to anticipate losses and/or promote successful aging processes.
