DETERMINANTS OF PRIMARY SUPPORT SYSTEM STRENGTH AMONG URBAN, WIDOWED WOMEN: DOES LIFE STAGE MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

摘要

This sociological investigation focused on the later widowhood period when, for the majority of widows, active grieving is over, the loss of the husband has been accepted, and rebuilding and repatterning one's life have become paramount. Social integration (i.e., social support system strength measured by the number of active family and friendship roles) of relatively long-time, urban widows was the part of the later widowhood period on which this study concentrated. The purposes of the study were to investigate the factors associated with primary support system strength of widows, to determine whether the same or different factors are predictive of support system strength among family and friends, and to determine whether or not these factors are equally predictive of support system strength of widows in three different life stages: (1) young and middle-aged (women under 60 years of age), (2) young-old (women age 60 through 74), and (3) old-old (women 75 years of age and over).;The assumption that self-initiating behavior is essential to the development of strong social support systems became evident from the findings. For the total sample of widows, completed education, employment history, religious involvement, social activities, and organizational memberships were positively associated with at least one type of primary support system strength. As hypothesized, factors influencing primary support system strength did differ by type of support system strength (family or friendship) and by life stage of the widow. Overall, the regression models were least predictive of primary support system strength for the young and middle-aged widows and most predictive for the old-old widows.;Unexpectedly, vulnerability of the widow was related to family support system strength among older widows in much the same way that self-initiating behavior was related to both types of support system strength for the total sample of widows. Among the young-old widows, low income and the presence of grieving were associated with support system strength among family members; among the oldest life stage group, the presence of physical health problems, hostility, and low life satisfaction were associated with this dependent variable. Low income was associated with support system strength among both family and friends for the old-old widows. Thus, it is only in old age that the "traditional" (i.e., the tearful, bereft, and unhappy) widow emerges; however, vulnerability and negative attributes in these elderly widows do not predispose them to abandonment and isolation. Instead, support systems, especially the family support system, become more tolerant and flexible in these instances.;A sub-set of respondents and variables from the 1974 Widowhood Support System Survey, conducted by Helena Lopata, Loyola University of Chicago, and the Survey Research Laboratory, University of Illinois, provided the data base for this research. The universe for the original study was composed of women who were current or recent past recipients of some form of Social Security Administration benefit as a result of having been widowed. In addition, the women had to be residents of the Chicago Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area at the time of the survey. The study was designed so that widows from five Social Security Administration benefit recipient categories were represented adequately in the sample. These categories included: (1) widows with dependent children, (2) retirement widows, (3) remarried widows, (4) widows with adult children, and (5) "lump sum" payment widows. Data were collected in face-to-face interviews. This research was a secondary analysis of these data. The subgroup under investigation included only those women who had remained widows after their husbands died (unweighted number of cases = 967). Multiple regression/correlation techniques were used in the analysis of these data.