Coping with Loss: Differences between Widows and Widowers of Deceased Cancer Patients

This study compares the adjustment to loss on the part of forty-three widows and twenty-four widowers, all former spouses of patients who died of cancer. The patients and the families were treated at the Unit for Home Care of the Oncological Institute in the Linn Clinic in Haifa as well as in various hospitals in Haifa for the terminally ill. The main findings indicate that widows of patients who died of cancer suffer more than widowers. This can be learned by comparing the psychological (BSI), psychosocial (PAIS) and behavioral subscales (TRIG) of adjustment, and from ANOVA analyses of the three scales.