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Widowhood, widowhood duration, and loneliness among older adults in China

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  • Yang, Fang
  • Gu, Danan

Abstract

Widowhood is a distressful life event that is associated with loneliness in older adults. However, widowhood is not a binary event, and little is known about the role of widowhood duration in loneliness and about the relationship between widowhood duration and loneliness in different age and sex groups. Given the increases in aging population and in widowed older adults in China, we examined whether and how widowhood and widowhood duration were associated with loneliness in different age and sex groups among Chinese older adults.

Suggested Citation

  • Yang, Fang & Gu, Danan, 2021. "Widowhood, widowhood duration, and loneliness among older adults in China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 283(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:283:y:2021:i:c:s0277953621005116
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114179
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Yoon, Heesoo & Park, Gum-Ryeong & Kim, Jinho, 2022. "Psychosocial trajectories before and after spousal loss: Does gender matter?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 294(C).
    3. Hui You & Yao Wang & Lily Dongxia Xiao & Li Liu, 2022. "Prevalence of and Factors Associated with Negative Psychological Symptoms among Elderly Widows Living Alone in a Chinese Remote Sample: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-14, December.
    4. Wang, Kun & Gu, Danan, 2023. "Reciprocal associations between social media use and self-perception of aging among older adults: Do men and women differ?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 321(C).

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