Date of Award

2016

Publisher

North Dakota State University

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Awarded

Master of Science (MS)

Program

Couple and Family Therapy

Department

Human Development and Family Science

College

Human Sciences and Education

Faculty Advisor

Fuller, Heather

Description

Increasingly, aging research demonstrates the importance of social support for well-being in later life, particularly among women. Women often rely on their spouse as a source of social support; however, it is unclear how older women’s support, particularly friendships, adapts when their spouses die. The current study selected a sample of 253 women from the Social Integration and Aging Study (Fuller-Iglesias & Rajbhandari, 2015) with the goal of examining whether friendship characteristics differ between married and widowed older women and determining the implications for well-being. Results revealed married and widowed women did not differ in friendship number, frequency of contact, and satisfaction. Moreover, married women’s happiness was linked to in-person contact whereas widowed women’s happiness was associated with better friendship satisfaction. These results suggest friendships matter in later life despite marital status, yet the function may shift upon widowhood, highlighting important implications for research about and practice with older women.

Rights

NDSU Policy 190.6.2

Rights Link

https://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/policy/190.pdf

Handle Identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/10365/28234

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