Longitudinal relationships between bereavement and physical health‐related quality of life in middle‐ to older‐aged women

2014-08-13Although the detrimental effects of bereavement on structural aspects of physical health (e.g., mortality, disease) have been well documented in the literature, its impact on functional health patterns has been less studied. This study examined the longitudinal relationship between non‐spousal bereavement and physical health‐related quality of life (HRQOL) in a large sample of community‐dwelling women over a period of two years. Each participant had a pre‐bereavement baseline (if applicable) and was followed every 6 months thereafter. Potential moderators of the relationship between bereavement and physical HRQOL, including age, depression, perceived stress, social support, and context of bereavement, were explored. Contrary to expectations, the occurrence of a non‐spousal bereavement event did not predict change over time in physical HRQOL and there was no difference in the pattern of physical HRQOL over time between bereaved and non‐bereaved women. Within the bereaved group, those who had lost a family member had slower recovery of physical HRQOL over 24 months compared to those who had lost a friend. Descriptive data suggested that participants had better physical HRQOL and emotional functioning 6 months after bereavement if the deceased individual was of older age or had ongoing serious health concerns prior to death. The age of the participant did not moderate the relationship between bereavement and physical HRQOL. Depression, perceived stress, and social support were each significant predictors of physical HRQOL trajectories but themselves were unaffected by bereavement, and they did not moderate the effects of bereavement on physical HRQOL. Overall, these findings were inconsistent with the existing bereavement literature, which largely focuses on spousal bereavement. Potential explanations for this discrepancy, including frequency or length of measurement, choice of physical HRQOL measure, and biases of the obtained sample were systematically explored