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The effect of widowhood on husbands’ and wives’ physical activity: the cardiovascular health study

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Abstract

This prospective study examined the effect of widowhood on physical activity by comparing widowed elders to health status-, age-, and sex-matched married controls. Participants included 396 married controls and 396 widows/widowers age 64–91 (M age = 72.7 years) who experienced the death of their spouse while participating in the Cardiovascular Health Study. Compared to married controls, widowed men, but not women, were more likely to increase their physical activity following the death of their spouse. However, this increased level of activity was not sustained and declines as time since spousal death passes. Moreover, during the year before spousal death, soon-to-be widowed men, but not women, increase their physical activity. Our results suggest that widowed men experience significant changes in physical activity and that the transition to widowhood contribute to these changes.

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Acknowledgments

The research reported was supported by contracts HHSN268201200036C, N01-HC-85239, N01-HC-85079 through N01-HC-85086, N01-HC-35129, N01 HC-15103, N01 HC-55222, N01-HC-75150, N01-HC-45133, and grant HL080295 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), with additional contribution from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). Additional support was provided through AG-023629, AG-15928, AG-20098, and AG-027058 from the National Institute on Aging (NIA). A full list of principal CHS investigators and institutions can be found at http://www.chs-nhlbi.org/pi.htm. Preparation of this manuscript was also supported in part by grants from NIH P30 MH090333-01A1, MHO19986, NR009573, NR013450, AG026010, AG032370, and NSF 0540865.

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  1. Department of Psychiatry, University Center for Social and Urban Research, University of Pittsburgh, 3343 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, PA, 15260, USA

    Sarah T. Stahl & Richard Schulz

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  1. Sarah T. Stahl
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Correspondence to Sarah T. Stahl.

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Stahl, S.T., Schulz, R. The effect of widowhood on husbands’ and wives’ physical activity: the cardiovascular health study. J Behav Med 37, 806–817 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-013-9532-7

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