Examining Social Support in Adaptation to Widowhood: A Mixed Methods Approach

A wealth of developmental research has focused solely on identifying factors and linking them to resilient or psychopathological outcomes. Risk and protective factors, however, are not static, and the experience of a stressor is not necessarily universal. The purpose of this longitudinal study was to elucidate the nature of one protective factor, social support, following conjugal loss in older adulthood. Drawing from data collected as part of the Notre Dame Adjustment to Widowhood Study, this study investigated social support following bereavement using mixed (quantitative and qualitative) methods. First, the trajectories of social support were examined using quantitative indicators of satisfaction with social support following the death of a husband through 98 days of daily assessment. Second, the core themes of social support in the lives of older widows were examined using qualitative methods. Third, the findings from quantitative and qualitative analyses were examined together to inform each other and better understand the role of social support in resilience process.