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Abstract
Late life bereavement has been associated with psychological problems, mainly depression. A few studies indicated that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was an important issue in late life bereavement reactions. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of PTSD in recently bereaved older people compared with married controls and to investigate whether the loss of a spouse in old age, in contrast with earlier assumptions, could lead to PTSD. Two hundred and ninety-six Danish older bereaved people (mean age 73 years, 113 males) were chosen from national registers and assessed two months postbereavement. They were compared with a control group of 276 married older people. The prevalence of PTSD and depression were measured through a self-report questionnaire. Results showed that 16% of the bereaved and 4% of the control group had a PTSD diagnosis (ES = 0.35; Cohen's d = 0.74). Additionally, 37% of the bereaved and 22% of the control group had mild to severe depression (ES = 0.19; Cohen's d = 0.37). The results suggested that late life spousal bereavement result in PTSD with equal frequency to general samples of bereaved persons. Furthermore, the prevalence of PTSD in the first months after bereavement was more elevated than the level of depression. This makes PTSD an important factor when studying late life bereavement reactions.
Acknowledgments
The research was supported by The EGV Foundation grant. The researcher would like to thank The EGV Foundation for their generous support that made this study possible.