Transition into Widowhood and Functional Health

Widowhood is one of the most stressful life events, resulting in declines in psychological wellbeing and increases in mortality risks. Although the consequences of widowhood on mortality and psychological wellbeing are well-documented, little is known about the impact of widowhood on physical health. We assess how widowhood influences physical wellbeing and identify the mechanisms underlying the relationship between widowhood and functional health. Using data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS), we employ ordinary least square models to (1) compare the functional health of married and widowed persons and (2) examine the extent to which socioeconomic circumstances, relationship quality, and availability of social support explains the health differentials between them. Widowed persons have worse functional health than their married counterparts, net of demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status, marital quality, and availability of other forms of social support. The worse functional health of widowed persons is largely attributable to the fact that they are more likely to be in low quality marriages and to have cared for an ailing spouse prior to their death.