264 Grief and Loss Across the Lifespan
who are redefining this stage of life. Fleisher and Reese’s blog, Elder Chicks,
provides a weekly forum for older woman to share their accomplishments,
thoughts, and worries.
This focus on “Positive Aging” fits with a new understanding that older
adults appraise life more positively than previously recognized. Older adults
tend to remember events in their lives more positively than do younger adults
(Schryer & Ross, 2014). Considering how appraisals drive well-being, this pos-
itive bias may protect aging adults and explain Carstensen’s (2015) finding
that most older adults report a sense of well-being.LOSSES EXPERIENCED BY OLDER ADULTS
Death Losses
Loss of Partner
The loss of a spouse/partner is one of the most common experienced in later
adulthood. As the population of older adults grows more rapidly than any
other age group, there are more widows and widowers than ever before (Nseir
& Larkey, 2013). The loss of a spouse can result in increased mortality, disease,
depressive episodes, impaired immune function, sleep disruption, and overall
poorer physical health (van den Berg, Lindeboom, & Portrait, 2011). Boyle,
Feng, and Raab (2011) assert that widowhood shortens life expectancy. The
majority of widows and widowers are over 65 (Carr, Nesse, & Wortman, 2006)
meaning that many older adults are called upon to cope with, and hopefully
master, the transition from being in a couple to functioning independently.
Although many older adults (especially women) expect to lose their
spouse during this phase of life, a partner’s death in late adulthood can
nevertheless be devastating. Hooyman and Kramer (2006) report that grief
responses to losing an adult child and a spouse are similar (p. 307). Elders are
particularly challenged by spousal loss because: (a) the social networks of the
elderly are smaller due to death and deteriorating health among their peers;
(b) spousal relationships among the elderly assume increasing importance for
the older adult because, in a highly mobile society, fewer relatives are available
to provide support; and (c) many older couples have formed deep and strong
attachments and are highly interdependent due to roles, commitments, and
traditions (Moss, Moss, & Hansson, 2001). Widows and widowers also have
long-standing social roles as wife or husband to the deceased partner within
their communities and these may be difficult to transition (Hansson & Stroebe,
2007). Finally, older adults are likely to lose a spouse or partner while at the
same time facing chronic illness, disability, diminished physical stamina, and/
or negative cognitive changes. At a time when financial, social, and adaptive
resources are declining, the loss of a spouse or partner requires greater coping
efforts than may be true for those in middle or early adulthood (Carr et al., 2006).
Research indicates that widows and widowers who find purpose in their
suffering and those who make meaning of their loss are able to adjust better
than those who find no meaning or purpose (Coleman & Neimeyer, 2010; Kim,
2009). Meaning-making involves reconstructing one’s worldview and under-
standing the loss. People find meaning in various ways. Some widowed adults