Grief and Depression in Newly Widowed Parents with School-Age Children

The objectives of this study were to examine depression levels found in newly widowed parents with school age children and to distinguish bereavement dysphoria from clinical depression. A community based sample of seventy bereaved families with school-age children were assessed four months after the death and at the first anniversary. Parents were assessed with the CES-D depression scale [1], and the Impact of Events Scale [2], and the Family Inventory of Life Events [3]. The results indicate that 56 percent of the parents had high CES-D scores (> 16) at four months and 44 percent had high scores at one year. Early depression was a strong predictor of later depression. Higher depression levels were associated with more family life changes (FILE), limited income, lack of peer support, more younger children, and difficulty mobilizing support. Few parents with high CES-D scores selected the low self-esteem items suggesting more of a grief response than depression. Those who selected the low esteem items looked more clinically depressed than those who did not. In conclusion, it is important to distinguish between clinical depression and grief reactions since both share similar characteristics. This distinction is especially critical when planning appropriate interventions to assist the bereaved in coping with the loss.