A systematic review of late-life spousal bereavement and widowhood, with an emphasis on immigrants in western countries, and older Chinese adults

ABSTRACT

Spousal bereavement becomes increasingly common among older-aged individuals, posing considerable challenges to adults in late life. Immigrants, and older Chinese immigrants to Western countries, specifically may experience heightened negative outcomes as a consequence of spousal bereavement, due to migratory stress and marginalisation. This systematic review aims to summarise the research literature on spousal bereavement and/or widowhood in late life, with an emphasis on immigrants to Western countries in general and older Chinese adults. The paucity of spousal bereavement adjustment studies on older immigrants, and specifically on older Chinese immigrants, highlights the need for further research on this topic in order to inform the development of culturally sensitive interventions for social work services for this population.

丧偶哀伤在长者中变得越来越普遍，对他们的晚年生活构成了相当大的挑战。由于移民带来的压力和边缘化地位，丧偶哀伤对西方国家的移民，尤其是华人移民长者可能带来更大的负面影响。本文通过系统回顾旨在总结关于晚年丧偶哀伤和/或寡居的研究文献，重点关注西方国家的移民和华人移民长者。目前文献中有关移民长者特别是华人移民长者在面对丧偶哀伤时的调整研究比较缺乏，这使得这一主题的研究十分必要，以便发展针对移民长者具有文化敏感性的社会工作服务干预措施。

KEYWORDS:

• Spousal bereavement
• widowhood
• older adults
• immigrant
• Chinese
• systematic review

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.