IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i20p10974-d659647.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Social Participation and Survival in Widowed Persons: Results of the Taiwan Longitudinal Study on Aging

Author

Listed:
  • Yu-Han Hsiao

    (Department of Public Health, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung 40201, Taiwan
    Department of Family Medicine, Taichung Hospital, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taichung 40343, Taiwan)

  • Meng-Chih Lee

    (Department of Family Medicine, Taichung Hospital, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taichung 40343, Taiwan
    Institute of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung 40201, Taiwan
    Institute of Population Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Miaoli 35053, Taiwan
    College of Management, Chaoyang University of Technology, Taichung 41331, Taiwan)

  • Chih-Jung Yeh

    (Department of Public Health, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung 40201, Taiwan)

  • Chi-Jung Tai

    (Department of Family Medicine, Pingtung Hospital, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Pingtung 90054, Taiwan
    Department of Family Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan)

  • Shiuan-Shinn Lee

    (Department of Public Health, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung 40201, Taiwan)

Abstract

It has been considered that widowed persons have a higher risk of death. This study intended to explore whether social participation could improve this trend. A longitudinal study database was constructed to explore the trend of survival and its change with social participation in widowed persons. The Taiwan Longitudinal Study on Aging (TLSA), based on four consecutive waves of longitudinal follow-up data in 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2011 was linked with the National Death Registry from 1999 through 2012. In total, there were 1417 widowed persons and 4500 nonwidowed persons included in this study, excluding divorced and never-married people. The survival trend analysis was carried out with social participation as the main predictive factor stratified for comparative analysis. Our results showed that the widowed were older than the nonwidowed, were female-dominant, had a lower education level, were more economically stressed, and were less likely to engage in regular exercise, and thus showed generally poorer health; for example, being more vulnerable to having chronic diseases, disability with the Activities of Daily Living (ADL), cognitive impairment with the Short Portable Mental State Questionnaire (SPMSQ), and depression with The Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D). The death risk of the widowed was significantly higher than that of the nonwidowed, but the death trend for those with social participation was significantly lower than that of their counterparts in both the widowed and nonwidowed. After matching with gender and age for widowed persons, the widowed with social participation had a significantly lower risk of death (adjusted hazard ratio (HR), 0.83; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.71–0.98) compared to the widowed without social participation. It was concluded that social participation can improve the death risk for the widowed, and it is worthily included in health promotion plans and social welfare services for widowed persons.

Suggested Citation

  • Yu-Han Hsiao & Meng-Chih Lee & Chih-Jung Yeh & Chi-Jung Tai & Shiuan-Shinn Lee, 2021. "Social Participation and Survival in Widowed Persons: Results of the Taiwan Longitudinal Study on Aging," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-11, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:20:p:10974-:d:659647
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/20/10974/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/20/10974/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gary R. Lee & Alfred DeMaris & Stefoni Bavin & Rachel Sullivan, 2001. "Gender Differences in the Depressive Effect of Widowhood in Later Life," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 56(1), pages 56-61.
    2. Gyeong-Suk Jeon & Kyungwon Choi & Sung-Il Cho, 2017. "Impact of Living Alone on Depressive Symptoms in Older Korean Widows," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-11, October.
    3. Dongdong Jiang & Yitan Hou & Jinwei Hao & Jiayi Zhou & Junfeng Jiang & Quan Wang, 2020. "Association between Personal Social Capital and Loneliness among Widowed Older People," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-11, August.
    4. Elwert, F. & Christakis, N.A., 2008. "The effect of widowhood on mortality by the causes of death of both spouses," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 98(11), pages 2092-2098.
    5. Barbara Schaan, 2013. "Widowhood and Depression Among Older Europeans—The Role of Gender, Caregiving, Marital Quality, and Regional Context," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 68(3), pages 431-442.
    6. Subramanian, S.V. & Elwert, Felix & Christakis, Nicholas, 2008. "Widowhood and mortality among the elderly: The modifying role of neighborhood concentration of widowed individuals," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(4), pages 873-884, February.
    7. Natasha Wood & Anne McMunn & Elizabeth Webb & Mai Stafford, 2019. "Marriage and physical capability at mid to later life in England and the USA," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(1), pages 1-15, January.
    8. Dawn C Carr & Ben Lennox Kail & Christina Matz-Costa & Yochai Z Shavit, 2018. "Does Becoming A Volunteer Attenuate Loneliness Among Recently Widowed Older Adults?," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 73(3), pages 501-510.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yang, Fang & Gu, Danan, 2021. "Widowhood, widowhood duration, and loneliness among older adults in China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 283(C).
    2. Adena, Maja & Hamermesh, Daniel & Myck, Michał & Oczkowska, Monika, 2023. "Home Alone: Widows’ Well-Being and Time," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, issue Latest Ar, pages 1-1.
    3. Yu-Chan Hung & Yong-Hsin Chen & Meng-Chih Lee & Chih-Jung Yeh, 2021. "Effect of Spousal Loss on Depression in Older Adults: Impacts of Time Passing, Living Arrangement, and Spouse’s Health Status before Death," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-12, December.
    4. Hui You & Yao Wang & Lily Dongxia Xiao & Li Liu, 2022. "Prevalence of and Factors Associated with Negative Psychological Symptoms among Elderly Widows Living Alone in a Chinese Remote Sample: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-14, December.
    5. Hossain, Babul & James, K.S., 2024. "Economics of widowhood mortality in adult women in India," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 340(C).
    6. Franziska Förster & Melanie Luppa & Alexander Pabst & Kathrin Heser & Luca Kleineidam & Angela Fuchs & Michael Pentzek & Hanna Kaduszkiewicz & Carolin van der Leeden & André Hajek & Hans-Helmut König , 2021. "The Role of Social Isolation and the Development of Depression. A Comparison of the Widowed and Married Oldest Old in Germany," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-12, June.
    7. Eran Shor & David Roelfs & Misty Curreli & Lynn Clemow & Matthew Burg & Joseph Schwartz, 2012. "Widowhood and Mortality: A Meta-Analysis and Meta-Regression," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 49(2), pages 575-606, May.
    8. Matthias Lühr & Maria K. Pavlova & Maike Luhmann, 2022. "They are Doing Well, but is it by Doing Good? Pathways from Nonpolitical and Political Volunteering to Subjective Well-Being in Age Comparison," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(5), pages 1969-1989, June.
    9. Trine Filges & Anu Siren & Torben Fridberg & Bjørn C. V. Nielsen, 2020. "Voluntary work for the physical and mental health of older volunteers: A systematic review," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(4), December.
    10. Stroebe, Margaret Susan & Folkman, Susan & Hansson, Robert O. & Schut, Henk, 2006. "The prediction of bereavement outcome: Development of an integrative risk factor framework," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(9), pages 2440-2451, November.
    11. Espinosa, Javier & Evans, William N., 2013. "Maternal bereavement: The heightened mortality of mothers after the death of a child," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 11(3), pages 371-381.
    12. Young Bum Kim & Seung Hee Lee, 2022. "Gender Differences in Correlates of Loneliness among Community-Dwelling Older Koreans," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-11, June.
    13. Espinosa, Javier & Evans, William N., 2008. "Heightened mortality after the death of a spouse: Marriage protection or marriage selection?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 1326-1342, September.
    14. Gerard J. Berg & Petter Lundborg & Johan Vikström, 2017. "The Economics of Grief," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 127(604), pages 1794-1832, September.
    15. Kung, Claryn S.J., 2020. "Health in widowhood: The roles of social capital and economic resources," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 253(C).
    16. Gathmann, Christina & Huttunen, Kristiina & Jernström, Laura & Sääksvuori, Lauri & Stitzing, Robin, 2020. "In Sickness and in Health: Job Displacement and Health. Spillovers in Couples," Working Papers 133, VATT Institute for Economic Research.
    17. Herbert J A Rolden & David van Bodegom & Rudi G J Westendorp, 2014. "Changes in Health Care Expenditure after the Loss of a Spouse: Data on 6,487 Older Widows and Widowers in the Netherlands," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(12), pages 1-17, December.
    18. Guangwen Liu & Shixue Li & Fanlei Kong, 2022. "Association between Sense of Belonging and Loneliness among the Migrant Elderly Following Children in Jinan, Shandong Province, China: The Moderating Effect of Migration Pattern," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-13, April.
    19. Stefania Ilinca & Ricardo Rodrigues & Stefan Fors & Eszter Zólyomi & Janet Jull & Johan Rehnberg & Afshin Vafaei & Susan Phillips, 2022. "Gender differences in access to community-based care: a longitudinal analysis of widowhood and living arrangements," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 1339-1350, December.
    20. Dora Costa & Matthew Kahn, 2010. "Health, wartime stress, and unit cohesion: Evidence from Union Army veterans," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 47(1), pages 45-66, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:20:p:10974-:d:659647. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.