Journal
JOURNAL OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL BEHAVIOR
Volume 51, Issue 2, Pages 183-199Publisher
SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC
DOI: 10.1177/0022146510368933
Keywords
depression; older adults; personality; stress; widowhood
Categories
Funding
- NIA NIH HHS [AG05561, AG15948-01, AG610755] Funding Source: Medline
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We use data from the Changing Lives of Older Couples (CLOC) study to investigate the extent to which: (1) five personality traits (agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability/neuroticism, extraversion, and openness) moderate the effect of late-life spousal loss on depressive symptoms; (2) these patterns vary based on the expectedness of the death; and (3) the patterns documented in (1) and (2) are explained by secondary stressors and social support. Widowed persons report significantly more depressive symptoms than married persons, yet the deleterious effects of loss are significantly smaller for highly extraverted and conscientious individuals. The protective effects of personality traits, however, vary based on the expectedness of the death. Extraversion is protective against depression only for persons who had forewarning of the death. Extraverts may be particularly good at marshalling social support during prolonged periods of spousal illness. We discuss the ways that extraversion and conscientiousness may buffer against bereavement-related stressors.
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