The Gerontologist
The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America.
Vol. 50, No. 2, 158169 All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.
doi:10.1093/geront/gnp103
Changes in Social Participation and Volunteer
Activity Among Recently Widowed Older
Adults
Elizabeth A. Donnelly, MSW, MPH,1,2 and James E. Hinterlong, MSW, PhD2
Purpose: Widowhood eliminates a key source of
support that may trigger greater involvement in social
activities and volunteer participation, which are re-
lated to better late-life health and functioning. We
reexamine and build upon 2 recent studies exploring
recent widowhood and social participation. Using
different data, we perform a quasi-replication of Utz,
Carr, Nesse, and Wortmans (2002; The effect of
widowhood on older adults social participation: An
evaluation of activity, disengagement, and continuity
theories, The Gerontologist, 42, 522533) study
and employ different analytic strategies to Lis (2007;
Recovering from spousal bereavement in later life:
Does volunteer participation play a role? Journal of
Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and
Social Sciences, 62, S257S266) study. Design
and Methods: A synthetic cohort of recently wid-
owed individuals aged 60 years and older (n = 228)
was compared with random, non-widowed older
adult controls (n = 228) across 3 waves of Americans
Changing Lives data. Generalized estimating equa-
tions were used to assess the impact of widowhood
on levels of social participation and formal and infor-
mal volunteerism, controlling for social, economic,
demographic, and psychological factors.
Results: Similar to Utz and colleagues, we found
that widowhood was positively related to informal
social participation, net of other effects, but did not
reproduce this finding for formal social participation.
Unlike Li, we did not find a significant relationship
between widowhood and formal or informal volun-
teerism. Controlling for prior participation, widow-
hood remained significantly related to informal and
formal social participation. Implications: Older
1
Address correspondence to Elizabeth A. Donnelly, MSW, MPH, Col-
lege of Social Work, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-2570.
E-mail: ead06c@fsu.edu
2
College of Social Work, Florida State University, Tallahassee.
158
Advance Access publication on June 25, 2009
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adults increase their reliance on sources of other so-
cial support following spousal loss but do not change
their volunteer activities. This suggests that continuity
of volunteer engagement and enhanced social par-
ticipation are important following widowhood. Given
their positive associations with late-life well-being, ef-
forts to help older widows and widowers increase
their social participation and maintain established
patterns of volunteerism following spousal loss are
warranted.
Key Words: Social participation, Volunteerism,
Socioemotional selectivity theory, Replication study
In 2008, more than 14,300,000 individuals
were widowed, with the majority being older than
aged 65 years (U.S. Census Bureau, 2008). Wid-
owhood places individuals at a greater risk for de-
clining health (Williams, 2004), depression (Lund,
Caserta, & Dimond, 1989; Siegel & Kuykendall,
1990; Thompson, Gallagher-Thompson, Futterman,
Gilewski, & Peterson, 1991; Umberson, Wortman,
& Kessler, 1992), alcohol abuse, and suicide
(Harwood, 2005). Widowhood can also add to
economic strain through increased health care
costs (Prigerson, Maciejewski, & Rosenheck,
2000) and decreased income (Gass, 1989). Fur-
ther, widows may have a more difficult time deal-
ing with their loss, as they have fewer people with
whom to discuss their feelings of grief (Siegel &
Kuykendall). Older widowed persons are also par-
ticularly vulnerable to decreased social participa-
tion as they may become more susceptible to
isolating factors such as depression (Harwood)
and the effects of disability (Prince, Harwood,
Blizard, & Thomas, 1997) because the deceased
spouse may have facilitated or jointly engaged in
social activities.
The Gerontologist
 The aim of this study was to build upon and
extend recent studies examining changes in social
participation following recent widowhood among
older adults in the United States. These effects are
important because social participation, defined as
social interaction with persons other than a
spouse (Utz, Carr, Nesse, & Wortman, 2002,
p. 523), may play a part in decreasing feelings of
isolation and promoting general well-being. We
begin with a review of the extant literature on for-
mal and informal social participation, highlight-
ing their importance in the lives of widowed
individuals.
Informal and Formal Social Participation
Widowed individuals often lose a major re-
source for socializing when their spouse dies and
finding support in others becomes increasingly im-
portant (Umberson et al., 1992). Informal social
participation, including activities with family,
friends, and neighbors, provides the widowed indi-
vidual with not only emotional support but also
instrumental assistance with practical needs such
as meals, transportation, and house repair
(Balaswamy, Richardson, & Price, 2004); however,
it may not necessarily decrease the amount of time
widows spend grieving (Stroebe, Zech, Stroebe, &
Abakoumkin, 2005).
The nature of informal social participation may
change after a widowhood event; widowhood may
diminish certain social relationships such as friend-
ships made through or primarily maintained by
the deceased spouse, whereas others may be en-
hanced (Ferraro, 1984; Ferraro & Barresi, 1982).
These enhanced relationships may include friend-
ships (Ferraro, Mutran, & Barresi, 1984) as well
as relationships with children and siblings (Guiaux,
van Tilburg, & van Groenou, 2007). Although so-
cial participation may change after widowhood, it
remains uncertain if those changes positively affect
adaptation to widowhood (Miller, Smerglia, &
Bouchet, 2004; Zettel & Rook, 2004).
Formal social participation occurs through social
and religious organizations and is often sought out
by widowed persons (Ferraro et al., 1984). Gener-
ally, older adults involved in clubs and organizations
report having higher self-esteem, life satisfaction,
and fewer symptoms of depression than those who
are uninvolved in any organization (Pillemer, Moen,
Wethington, & Glasgow, 2000). Involvement in re-
ligious organizations may provide widows with new
friendships and a sense of community (Neill &
Vol. 50, No. 2, 2010 159
Kahn, 1999), and an increase in religious attendance
frequently occurs directly after the loss of a spouse
(Brown, Nesse, House, & Utz, 2004). Balaswamy
and colleagues (2004) found that widowers who
had more recently lost a spouse were more involved
in social and religious activities at their place of wor-
ship than those who had been widowed for more
than 500 days.
Although social participation is important to
the well-being of older adults, we seek to examine
how the widowhood event affects involvement in
these activities. We are guided by Utz and colleagues
(2002), who examined the impact that widowhood
had on both formal and informal social participa-
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tion by using data from the Changing Lives of
Older Couples (CLOC) study. In this study, a
group of 297 recently widowed individuals social
participation rates were compared with consistently
married persons (n = 87) over a period of 48
months. They found that whereas formal social
participation did not change, informal social par-
ticipation rates increased after the loss of a spouse.
A majority of those in the study stated that they
increased social participation to combat the nega-
tive effects of widowhood. The authors speculate
that these effects may also be seen in other forms
of participation, such as formal and informal
volunteerism.
Formal Volunteerism
Formal volunteerism entails working for or
through an organization in an unpaid capacity. It
allows older adults to contribute to their commu-
nities and exhibits a positive association with mea-
sures of well-being (Jirovec & Hyduk, 1998;
Morrow-Howell, Hinterlong, Tang, & Rozario,
2003; Thoits & Hewitt, 2001). Volunteerism has
been shown to decrease depressive symptomatol-
ogy in those older than 65 years (Musick & Wilson,
2003) as well as mortality risk (Musick, Herzog, &
House, 1999), and this effect is enhanced when
combined with religious involvement or social sup-
port (Harris & Thoresen, 2005; Oman, Thoresen, &
McMahon, 1999). Van Willigen (2000) found that
older adults benefited more from volunteering than
their younger counterparts and that volunteering
for more than one organization resulted in in-
creased life satisfaction and perceived health.
However, other research has also shown that the
type or number of organizations that elders volun-
teer for does not further contribute to well-being
(Morrow-Howell et al.).
 Another potential advantage of formal volun-
teerism is that it may enable widowed persons to
increase their social network by meeting other vol-
unteers as well as gain the positive benefits of help-
ing. Elders who volunteer with an organization
tend to be women, who are more likely to partici-
pate in volunteer activities at a higher level. Elders
who volunteer are also more likely to have a high-
er income and be married (Kim & Hong, 1998).
The stress-buffering effects found through involve-
ment with voluntary organizations (Rietschlin,
1998) may help decrease the stress associated with
widowhood.
Li (2007) examined the relationship between
widowhood and formal volunteerism using the
Americans Changing Lives (ACL) study. Using
cross-sectional time series analysis, pooling respon-
dents into two waves of data, Li found that wid-
owed individuals had a higher likelihood of
pursuing formal volunteer roles than did non-
widowed individuals, within 14 years following
the death of a spouse. Li hypothesized that this was
due to widowed persons adopting volunteer roles
as a compensatory measure after the loss of a
spouse. Furthermore, Li found that volunteerism
was protective against depressive symptoms and in-
creased hours of volunteering was protective against
depressive symptoms and increased self-efficacy.
Informal Volunteerism
Informal volunteerism involves helping family,
friends, and neighbors, and continues to be a part
of a persons life into old age (Choi, Burr,
Mutchler, & Caro, 2007). It can entail providing
instrumental support in the form of transporta-
tion, child care, and housework without pay (Brown,
Brown, House, & Smith, 2008). It is one of the
most common forms of activity among older adults
(Hinterlong, 2008) and may contribute to general
levels of late-life functional and subjective health
(Hinterlong, Morrow-Howell, & Rozario, 2007).
Informal volunteerism after spousal loss has been
shown to mitigating depressive symptoms in be-
reaved individuals (Brown et al.).
Theoretical Underpinnings
Our examination of widowhood and social par-
ticipation draws upon both socioemotional selec-
tivity (Carstensen, Isaacowitz, & Charles, 1999)
and continuity theories (Atchley, 1989). First, the
theory of socioemotional selectivity posits that
160
perception of time is inevitably linked to the selec-
tion and pursuit of social goals (Carstensen et al.,
1999, p. 166). When time is perceived as limited,
goals shift from the acquisition of knowledge to
meeting emotionally based goals. Knowledge-based
goals involve the pursuit of information, whereas
emotionally based goals derive emotional satisfac-
tion and meaning from social contacts, being aware
of the present moment rather than focused on fu-
ture events (Carstensen et al., 1999). Furthermore,
as emotional goals become primary, individuals
turn more frequently to known social partners, as
those who are familiar to them may more reliably
be able to provide predictable and positive contact
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(Carstensen, Fung, & Charles, 2003; Carstensen
et al., 1999). Although the overall size of a social
circle decreases over time (Carstensen, 1992), the
importance and satisfaction derived from those
contacts remains constant (Lansford, Sherman, &
Antonucci, 1998). The theory of socioemotional
selectivity theory would posit that after the loss of
a spouse, the widowed individual might focus more
on emotionally based goals, and there will be an
increase in social participation to meet emotional
goals and compensate for the loss of the spouse.
Beyond general social participation, evidence exists
that although the number of volunteer activities
undertaken by older adults may decrease, levels of
volunteering may increase or remain constant for
individuals who are already engaged in volunteer
activities (Hendricks & Cutler, 2004). This sup-
ports the idea that significant social contacts, in
this case volunteer contacts, are retained over
time.
Further theoretical underpinning for this study
is found in continuity theory (Atchley, 1989),
which posits that as individuals age, they will at-
tempt to maintain the roles and activity patterns
that they established earlier in their lives. Thus,
following widowhood, individuals may try and
maintain types and levels of social participation
consistent with those prior to the loss of a spouse
(Dean, Matt, & Wood, 1992; Zettel & Rook,
2004). Even when an obligation such as care giv-
ing takes the time of older adults, they are likely to
continue in their volunteer work (Choi et al.,
2007).
The Current Study
The current study combines and builds upon
features of both Utz and colleagues (2002) and
Lis (2007) studies to address outstanding issues
The Gerontologist
identified by those authors and our review of the
literature. We begin with a quasi-replication of the
work of Utz and colleagues using the ACL data. In
their call for future research, Utz and colleagues
noted the need to understand the impact of wid-
owhood on specific forms of social participation.
Li offers some insight by narrowing the focus in his
examination of widowhood and formal volunteer-
ism. We have extended this analytic approach to
reexamine Lis assessment of formal volunteerism
following widowhood and consider how informal
volunteerism is impacted by spousal loss. We di-
verge from both Utz and Li by examining how ro-
bust various forms of social participation are
following a widowhood event. The final question
we examine is whether any of the various forms of
social participation are impacted by widowhood,
controlling for previous levels of participation.
In attempting to replicate the work of Utz and
colleagues with the ACL data, our study design dif-
fers in several ways. First, we identify random non-
widowed controls to approximate their use of
matched case controls. Second, the ACL does not
contain all the independent variables used in their
study (i.e., drive automobile, spouse health charac-
teristics). We also address methodological limita-
tions identified by Li (2007). Specifically, Li uses all
widows in the ACL while controlling statistically
for time since the spouses death; similar to Utz and
colleagues however, we include only those individ-
uals widowed within the past 3 years, which mini-
mizes recall bias and places the spousal loss more
temporally proximal to the outcomes under investi-
gation. Additionally, Li did not control for pre-loss
respondent characteristics but rather used the post-
loss data as proxy indicators. Our use of randomly
selected never-widowed controls eliminates this
concern by controlling for pre-loss characteristics.
Methods
Sample
The data used for this study are drawn from the
first three waves of the ACL study (House, 1994).
Initial face-to-face interviews were conducted in
1986 with a panel of 3,617 community-dwelling
adults aged 25 years or older. Subsequent data
were collected in 1989 and 1994. The ACL over-
samples Blacks and adults aged 60 years and older.
We limited our sampling frame to adults aged 60
years and older at any wave (n = 1210) and identi-
fied 228 individuals who experienced a widow-
hood event within the 3 years prior to any interview.
Vol. 50, No. 2, 2010
These were pooled to form a synthetic cohort. We
then randomly drew 228 never-widowed individu-
als from the sampling frame to serve as controls.
Missing data are a common issue under all study
designs but are especially prevalent in complex
longitudinal studies like the ACL. We used multi-
ple random imputation (MRI) to represent the
missing data resulting from reasons other than re-
spondent death. MRI, a preferred method for ad-
dressing missing data, enables us to use
complete-data analytic methods. We weight our
findings to generalize back to the U.S. population
of noninstitutionalized older adults.
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Analysis
To take advantage of the longitudinal nature of
the ACL, we use generalized estimating equations
(GEEs) to estimate our models. GEE allows seri-
ally correlated data produced by panel studies to
be examined within a general linear model frame-
work that accommodates the inclusion of both
categorical and continuous independent and de-
pendent variables. By accounting for autocorre-
lated error, GEE produces more accurate standard
errors and less biased parameter estimates than or-
dinary least squares regression. We begin by iden-
tifying differences among recent widows and
never-widowed controls across our analysis vari-
ables. We then use GEE to test for hypothesized
differences between these groups on each measure
of social participation.
We present three nested models for each depen-
dent measure. The first two models parallel the
analyses of Utz and colleagues. Our final models
examine levels of social participation, controlling
for previous levels of participation and all other
control variables. This allows us to examine how
robust patterns of social participation are follow-
ing a recent widowhood event.
Measures
Dependent Measures.Four dependent vari-
ables were used in this analysis, formal and infor-
mal social participation, and formal and informal
volunteering. Formal social participation is a stan-
dardized index of two variables: (a) how often do
you attend meetings or programs of groups, clubs,
or organizations that you belong to and (b) how
often do you usually attend religious services. Utz
and colleagues included hours of volunteering in
their measure of formal social participation.
We do not; because volunteerism is being assessed
161
separately in our analyses, it was not included as
part of the formal social participation index. In-
formal social participation is a standardized index
of two variables: (a) in a typical week, about how
many times do you talk on the telephone with
friends, neighbors, or relatives and (b) how often
do you get together with friends, neighbors, or
relatives and do things like go out together or vis-
it in each others homes. Formal volunteering re-
flects unpaid activity done for an organization
during the past year. Informal volunteer status re-
fers to the provision of instrumental assistance to
friends and neighbors without pay such as help
with household chores or transportation. Both
forms of volunteering are dichotomized (1 = yes,
0 = no).
Widowhood.Widows are identified as indi-
viduals who experienced a widowhood event with-
in the 3 years preceding the ACL interview.
Non-widows are individuals who report never
experiencing a widowhood event.
Control Variables.We include the same con-
trol variables as Utz and colleagues. These vari-
ables include age, years of education, total
household income, sex (1 = male, 2 = female), ho-
meownership (1 = own home, 0 = does not own
home), and race (1 = White, 2 = non-White). We
also controlled for functional health status, self-
rated health, depression, extraversion, employ-
ment status, and no children. Functional health
status is an index of 12 variables assessing the ease
in which the individual attends independently to
activities of daily living. Self-rated health is as-
sessed by asking, How would you rate your health
at the present time? Response options vary from
excellent (1) to poor (5). Depression is assessed us-
ing nine items from the Center for Epidemiological
Studies-Depression scale (Radloff, 1977). In the
ACL, extraversion is an index of four variables: (a)
are you a talkative person, (b) do you usually take
the initiative in making new friends, (c) do you
tend to keep in the background on social occa-
sions, and (d) are you mostly quiet when with oth-
er people. Employment status is a dummy code
(1 = employed, 0 = unemployed) as is no children
(1 = yes, 0 = no).
We were unable to include two variables used by
Utz and colleagues due to limitations in the data set,
including whether the individual provided care for
his/her spouse and if he/she drove an automobile.
162
Results
Widowhood and Social Participation
As shown in Table 1, we identified several sig-
nificant demographic differences between widows
and non-widows in our sample. Widows had high-
er levels of informal social participation at Waves
1 and 3. Widowed individuals also had higher lev-
els of formal social participation at Wave 3. Wid-
owed individuals were more frequently women,
significantly so at Waves 2 and 3, and significantly
older than non-widows at Waves 1 and 3. Non-
widows had significantly higher levels of education
at Wave 2, had higher household income in Waves
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1 and 2, and were more likely to own their own
home in Wave 2. Further differences were identi-
fied in Wave 2, when non-widows were more like-
ly to have higher levels of functional health.
Widows reported higher levels of depression at
Waves 1 and 2 as well as lower levels of employ-
ment at Wave 2. Of note, some of the mean scores
are negative because both positive and negative
values were associated with the construct (i.e.,
extraversion, depression).
Our first aim was to replicate the findings of Utz
and colleagues using the ACL data, as seen in Mod-
els 1 and 2 on Table 2. Model 3 tests the robust-
ness of the relationship between recent widowhood
and current social participation, controlling for
previous levels of participation. We were able to
successfully replicate some of Utz and colleagues
findings, however several of our results differed.
As in Utz and colleagues study, we found that
widowhood had a significant positive relationship
with informal social participation in the controlled
environment (b = .681, p < .001). Additionally,
both analyses indicate women reported greater in-
formal social participation (b = .275, p < .01). Our
analyses identified significant relationships not ob-
served in Utz and colleagues, including those be-
tween informal social participation and age (b =
.036, p < .001), education (b = .076, p < .001),
homeownership (b = .280, p < .05), extraversion
(b = .162, p < .001), and no children (b = .279, p <
.05). Our analyses did not show the significant
relationship Utz and colleagues found between
depression and informal social participation.
As seen in Model 3, we then estimated a model
using the identified variables as covariates, widow-
hood status as a fixed effect, and prior social partici-
pation as a control. These full models explained over
half of the variance in social participation due to the
inclusion of lagged participation. Consequently,
The Gerontologist
 Table 1. Univariate statistics, by widowhood status and wave

Wave 1 Wave 2 Wave 3

Full pooled
sample, Widowed, Non-widowed, Widowed, Non-widowed, Widowed, Non-widowed,
N = 456 n = 82 n = 84 n = 84 n = 64 n = 62 n = 80

M SD M SD M SD M SD M SD M SD M SD
Informal 0.01 1.11 0.24 1.16 0.13 1.10* 0.14 0.98 0.17 1.12 0.21 1.16 0.21 1.07*
social
participation
Formal social 0.19 1.05 0.16 1.07 0.09 1.04 0.17 1.02 0.28 1.09 0.43 1.02 0.08 1.07*
participation
Informal 0.59 0.49 0.56 0.50 0.62 0.49 0.60 0.49 0.58 0.50 0.58 0.50 0.58 0.50
volunteerism
Formal 0.35 0.48 0.24 0.43 0.38 0.49 0.27 0.45 0.45 0.50* 0.39 0.49 0.40 0.49

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volunteerism
Sex 1.69 0.46 1.66 0.48 1.60 0.49 1.80 0.40 1.59 0.50** 1.89 0.32 1.65 0.48**
Age, years 73.96 6.44 75.24 6.90 71.64 5.57*** 74.07 6.15 72.95 6.44 76.45 6.25 73.85 6.41*
Education 10.50 3.55 9.72 3.62 10.18 3.70 9.76 3.48 11.03 3.61* 11.39 2.98 11.28 3.47
Annual 3.80 2.37 2.77 1.63 3.69 2.13** 3.00 2.09 4.77 2.79*** 4.16 2.30 4.75 2.53
household
income
Own home 0.77 0.42 0.72 0.45 0.76 0.43 0.77 0.42 0.80 0.41** 0.74 0.44 0.81 0.39
Race 0.73 0.45 0.73 0.45 0.75 0.44 0.64 0.48 0.77 0.43 0.82 0.39 0.69 0.47
Functional 3.16 1.11 3.05 1.11 3.23 1.05 2.95 1.16 3.44 1.02** 3.18 1.11 3.20 1.14
health
Self-rated 2.94 1.09 2.79 1.15 3.10 1.07 3.07 1.13 2.86 0.99 2.82 0.98 2.95 1.12
health
Depression 0.11 0.96 0.39 1.05 0.01 0.88* 0.51 1.02 0.24 0.73*** 0.07 0.99 0.16 0.81
Extraversion 0.22 0.96 0.25 0.93 0.35 0.98 0.34 0.92 0.20 0.99 0.04 0.92 0.08 1.01
Employed 0.09 0.29 0.06 0.24 0.14 0.35 0.08 0.28 0.23 0.43** 0.02 0.13 0.01 0.12
No children 0.17 0.38 0.18 0.39 0.23 0.42 0.12 0.33 0.16 0.37 0.15 0.36 0.19 0.40
Note: *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

many of the statistically significant relationships seen
in earlier models disappear. Specifically, the relation-
ship between gender, age, education, and homeown-
ership and informal social participation disappears.
Variables that remain significantly related to informal
social participation include widowhood (b = .671,
p < .001), extraversion (b = .058, p < .05), and race
(b = .511, p < .05). Prior informal social participa-
tion is also strongly related to current informal
social participation (b = .332, p < .001).
Widowhood also exhibits a significant relation-
ship (b = .329, p > .01) with formal participation,
a finding that differs from Utz and colleagues.
Other variables that are significantly associated
with formal social participation include homeown-
ership (b = .529, p < .001), depression (b = .176,
p < .01), and extraversion (b = .195, p < .001); Utz
and colleagues analyses found that formal social
participation was significantly related to gender,
education, race, and depression.
Once again, Model 3 examines the robustness of
the relationship between the predictor variables
and formal social participation, controlling for pre-
vious levels of formal participation. In these analy-
ses, formal social participation remains significantly
related to widowhood (b = .451, p < .001), depres-
sion (b = .225, p < .001), and prior formal
participation (b = .649, p < .001). However, the
significant relationship between formal social par-
ticipation and homeownership disappears.
Controlling for prior social participation greatly
increased the explanatory power of both models.
When prior participation was added to the model,
the adjusted R2 for informal social participation
increases from .14 in Model 2 to .58 (p < .001) in
Model 3. The model of formal social participation
also accounts for more variance with the addition
of prior participation, with the adjusted R2 chang-
ing from .09 to .63 (p < .001). It would appear that
controlling for prior participation increases the
variance accounted for in the models of both for-
mal and informal social participation. In addition,
it must be noted that although many demographic
variables lose their significant relationship to both

Vol. 50, No. 2, 2010 163

 Table 2. Unstandardized coefficients from regression of predictors of social participation on recent widowhood

Informal social participation Formal social participation

Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 1 Model 2 Model 3

Variable Estimate SE Estimate SE Estimate SE Estimate SE Estimate SE Estimate SE

Intercept 0.220 0.611 0.595 0.722 0.778 1.038 0.103 0.680 0.709 0.791 0.306 0.929
Gender 0.361 0.096*** 0.275 0.098 0.183 0.133 0.008 0.106 0.063 0.107 0.173 0.117
Age 0.032 0.007*** 0.036 0.008 0.017 0.012 0.009 0.008 0.010 0.008 0.006 0.011
Education 0.078 0.016*** 0.076 0.016 0.033 0.023 0.027 0.017 0.017 0.018 0.002 0.021
Income 0.025 0.021 0.011 0.02 0.027 0.028 0.025 0.024 0.002 0.024 0.004 0.025
Racea 0.188 0.161 0.213 0.168 0.511 0.244* 0.172 0.179 0.272 0.184 0.235 0.219
Homeownership 0.263 0.124* 0.1710 0.5 0.258 0.171 0.552 0.138*** 0.529 0.137*** 0.136 0.155
Formal employment 0.014 0.165 0.008 0.163 0.342 0.230 90.07 0.183 0.072 0.179 0.074 0.206

164
Widowed 0.614 0.097*** 0.681 0.103 0.671 0.139*** 0.238 0.108* 0.329 0.113** 0.451 0.124 ***
Functional health 0.041 0.054 0.112 0.073 0.017 0.059 0.016 0.065
Self-rated health 0.028 0.053 0.027 0.073 0.066 0.058 0.011 0.065
Depressive symptoms 0.010 0.057 0.085 0.074 0.176 0.063** 0.225 0.067 ***
Extraversion 0.162 0.045 0.114 0.049** 0.195 0.049*** 0.078 0.052
No children 0.279 0.133 0.180 0.165 0.052 0.145 0.053 0.147
Prior participation 0.332 0.063*** 0.649 0.051 ***
2 Log likelihood 652.433 624.250*** 264.620*** 699.544*** 663.336*** 243.539***
Model c2 234.292 219.527*** 83.496*** 290.240*** 263.516*** 66.952***
Adjusted R2 0.11 0.14*** 0.58*** 0.05*** 0.09*** 0.63***
Notes: N = 456.
a
African American is reference group.
*p < .05. **p < 01. ***p < .001.

The Gerontologist
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 Table 3. Unstandardized coefficients from regression of predictors of volunteer status on recent widowhood

Formal volunteer status Informal volunteer status

Model 1 Model 2 Model 1 Model 2

Variable Estimate SE Estimate SE Estimate SE Estimate SE

Intercept 0.64 1.91 1.49 2.40 4.74 1.88** 4.16 2.29
Gender 0.02 0.29 0.04 0.33 0.15 0.29 0.19 0.32
Age 0.04 0.02 0.02 0.03 0.10 0.02*** 0.08 0.03***
Education 0.17 0.05*** 0.16 0.06*** 0.16 0.05** 0.14 0.05**
Income 0.02 0.06 0.07 0.07 0.01 0.07 0.00 0.07
Racea 0.50 0.56 0.05 0.60 1.19 0.52* 0.90 0.54
Homeownership 1.08 0.44** 1.01 0.48* 0.17 0.38 0.09 0.41
Employment 0.07 0.48 0.06 0.52 0.42 0.57 0.40 0.58
Widowed 0.16 0.30 0.08 0.34 0.52 0.30 0.53 0.34

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Functional health 0.32 0.20 0.37 0.17*
Self-rated health 0.36 0.17* 0.25 0.17
Depression 0.29 0.20 0.07 0.18
Extraversion 0.47 0.15** 0.30 0.14*
No children 0.46 0.46 0.04 0.41
2 Log likelihood 161.35 142.33*** 156.55 145.76***
2
Model c 273.79 264.17*** 272.07 262.73***
Adjusted R2 0.09 0.16*** 0.11 0.15***
Notes: N = 456.
a
African American is reference group.
*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

formal and informal social participation, widow-
hood retains a strongly significant relationship to
both types of social participation.
Widowhood and Volunteerism
The second stated goal of this study was to build
on Lis (2007) analyses by examining the affect of
recent widowhood on different types of volunteer-
ism. As noted in Table 3, our analyses did not find
that widowhood was significantly related to either
formal or informal volunteerism. Variables that
were related to formal volunteerism included edu-
cation (b = .16, p < .001), homeownership (b =
1.01, p < .05), self-rated health (b = .36, p < .05),
and extraversion (b = .47, p < .01). Variables dem-
onstrating a statistically significant relationship to
informal volunteerism included age (b = .08, p <
.001), education (b = .14, p < .01), functional
health (b = .37, p < .05), and extraversion (b = .30,
p < .05). We did not control for prior formal and
informal volunteerism because the initial analyses
failed to show a significant effect for widowhood.
Discussion
Our findings on social participation are consis-
tent with socioemotional selectivity and continuity
theories, insofar as levels of social participation
were maintained or increased after the widowhood
event. In the case of this study, levels of social par-
ticipation remained the same or increased after a
widowhood event, which may be attributed to the
individual attempting to compensate for the loss of
the spousal relationship. We did not observe the
same relationship between widowed individuals
and formal and informal volunteerism. This lack
of findings may be due to the way in which volun-
teerism was measured in the data set or simply be-
cause of a nonsignificant relationship between
volunteerism and widowhood in this population.
Beyond the theoretical implications of our find-
ings, three goals were articulated for these analy-
ses. The first goal was to attempt to reproduce to
the extent possible the findings of Utz and colleagues
(2002) in regards to social participation after
widowhood. Second, we build on Lis (2007) anal-
yses by examining what differences might exist in
formal and informal volunteerism after widowhood,
and finally, we extend on both previous efforts by
examining the robustness of the observed relation-
ships by controlling for previous levels of social
participation and volunteerism.
We did reproduce some of the findings of
Utz and colleagues in regards to widowhood and

Vol. 50, No. 2, 2010 165

social participation in older adults. Specifically, we
find a positive relationship between recent widow-
hood and informal social participation. These data
demonstrate that in two separate samples, wid-
owed individuals reported a higher level of infor-
mal social participation than did non-widows, and
widowed women were more likely to report higher
levels of informal social participation than were
widowed men. Our analyses identified additional
significant relationships between informal social
participation and age, education, homeownership,
extraversion, and no children. In addition to infor-
mal social participation, analyses of formal social
participation and the identified variables revealed
a number of differences from the Utz and col-
leagues findings. Specifically, our analyses revealed
a significant relationship between widowhood sta-
tus and higher levels of formal social participation.
Furthermore, homeowners as well as those with
higher levels of extraversion report greater formal
social participation. This stands in contrast to the
findings of Utz and colleagues, in which they found
that formal social participation had a significant
relationship to gender, education, and race. The
only findings from Utz and colleagues that were
reproduced in terms of formal participation in-
cluded negative relationships between levels of for-
mal social participation and depression.
As the stated goal was to attempt a quasi-
replication of the Utz and colleagues findings, the
relationships that were reproduced in these analy-
ses included the significant relationship between
widowhood and greater informal social participa-
tion, as well as between gender and informal social
participation. In terms of formal social participa-
tion, the only replicated findings that reflected a
decreased level of participation were in those with
increased levels of depression.
The second stated goal was to build on Lis
(2007) findings involving the relationship between
formal volunteerism and widowhood. Although Li
found that there was an increased likelihood of
widows taking on a volunteer role after the wid-
owhood event, these findings were not replicated
in these analyses. As Li notes, the effect of widow-
hood status on volunteer role in that sample was
relatively modest possibly due to the low number
of individuals widowed between the two data col-
lection periods. It is a possibility that the different
methodological choices made in this study (the use
of those only widowed in the past 3 years and the
use of randomly selected never-widowed controls)
might explain the discrepancy in findings. These
166
findings present an interesting conundrum, as pre-
vious research has shown that older married indi-
viduals are more likely to volunteer than unmarried
individuals (Kim & Hong, 1998). Therefore, it
would follow that widowed individuals would
show a lower rate of volunteerism than would
their married counterparts. The answer may be
found in socioemotional theory, which posits
greater emphasis on meeting emotional goals later
in life. If an emphasis is placed on meeting emo-
tional goals by maintaining important social con-
tacts, then perhaps despite the widowhood event,
the widowed individual will retain the volunteer
relationship. This would lead to similar rates of
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volunteerism between widowed individuals with a
history of volunteerism and married individuals.
More research is needed to explicate the differenc-
es in volunteerism between married individuals
and different types of non-married individuals (i.e.,
never-married or widowed).
The final goal of this study was to test the ro-
bustness of the relationships between widowhood
and formal and informal social participation as
well as formal and informal volunteerism. These
findings are perhaps the most compelling in the
study as they demonstrate that widowhood has a
significant relationship with both formal and infor-
mal social participation, even when prior levels of
social participation are controlled for. This indi-
cates an increase in both formal and informal social
participation regardless of the level of social par-
ticipation prior to the widowhood event. Indeed,
even when demographic variables became nonsig-
nificant, widowhood retained a significant relation-
ship to social participation. This indicates that
widowhood status, more than other demographic
characteristics, may influence social participation
in older widowed adults. Controlling for previous
levels of social participation also significantly in-
creased the explanatory power of the model; more
than 50% of the overall variance was explained for
both formal and informal social participation.
Limitations
Several limitations exist in this study that must be
noted. First, we were only able to attempt a quasi-
replication of the Utz and colleagues study. The
differences in the CLOC and ACL data sets made a
true replication unfeasible. A second limitation lies
in the observational nature of the study. Although
we were able to control for a host of factors, we
were unable to include consideration of what the
The Gerontologist
experience of the widowed individual both prior to
and during the spousal loss might have been. These
factors may act as unmeasured confounders that
we were unable to control for in this study. Fur-
ther, despite the availability of baseline formal and
informal social participation data, the nature of
the study makes positing any sort of causal con-
nection impossible.
Practical Implications
These findings advance our understanding of
the experience of widowhood and can aid those
seeking to enhance the well-being of widowed old-
er adults, as well as guide policymakers in develop-
ing programs that are rooted in scholarly
evidence.
Practice Implications.For professionals, this
study adds to the growing evidence that sustained
and increasing social participation by widowed in-
dividuals is protective against negative health out-
comes. Identifying practical strategies for leveraging
this understanding is important. When dealing
with older adults who have recently experienced a
widowhood event, it is important for health and
mental health professionals to explore the older
persons previous and recent history of social par-
ticipation and volunteerism. In particular, helping
older adults to overcome barriers to participation
arising from the loss of a spouse may be a central
aim of these efforts. For example, social workers
could assist the individual to identify and pursue
future opportunities to be involved in formal and
informal social activities. These intervention efforts
may take place in a variety of settings, including
hospice care, grief counseling and support groups,
hospitals and other health care settings, or psycho-
educational programs to facilitate the transition
from spouse to widowed individual (e.g., Caserta,
Lund, & Rice, 1999; Raveis, 2000; Silverman,
1972).
Furthermore, this research adds to the body of
evidence of the importance of interaction with
family and friends to those who have experienced
a widowhood event. To protect against the nega-
tive effects of widowhood, including an increased
risk for declining health, disability, alcohol abuse,
and suicide, family must continue their participa-
tion with the widowed individual. This may be dif-
ficult given the increasing mobility and geographical
separation evident in families. For these reasons,
nonfamilial social relationships may become an in-
Vol. 50, No. 2, 2010 167
creasingly important source of support for indi-
viduals after spousal loss (Ha & Carr, 2005). This
is suggested in our finding that older widows gen-
erally increase their involvement within nonfamil-
ial relationships. Future research should consider
how to facilitate and optimize informal social par-
ticipation using new technologies and within ever
more complex built and social environments.
Research Implications.Future research also
should pursue several additional issues that we were
unable to address in this study. Investigators should
examine how the pre-loss experience of widows
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and widowers affects later social participation. In-
dividuals who are heavily involved in the care of a
spouse may have a fundamentally different experi-
ence of social participation after the widowhood
event than those who lost spouses suddenly or were
not as involved in the care giving process. The sub-
tleties of the pre-loss and widowhood experience
may influence later social participation in ways that
were not captured in this study.
Additional research may focus on a more con-
centrated and detailed examination of the relation-
ship between widowhood and volunteerism.
Although no significant relationships were ob-
served in this study, further investigation may lead
to a greater understanding of the relationship be-
tween marital status, changes in that status, and
volunteerism. Given the robust relationship ob-
served between widowhood and social participa-
tion found in this study, it is certainly possible that
investigation with a larger population of widowed
individuals or a conceptualization of volunteerism
that is nondichotomous will reveal relationships
that were not observed here. Indeed, socioemo-
tional selectivity theory indicates that in older indi-
viduals, although number of or time spent in
volunteer activities may diminish as an individual
ages, their level of commitment to valued volun-
teer roles likely remains consistent or increases.
Policy Implications.As the baby boomers age, a
greater number of widowed individuals will be pres-
ent within the population. Given the findings in this
study, future policy should focus on supporting
community-based programs that promote social in-
volvement, such as senior centers, various Older
Americans Act services, and engagement in commu-
nity life through more formal volunteer activities.
Recent national legislation has moved in this direc-
tion. The 2006 amendments and reauthorization to
the Older Americans Act call for a greater attention
to civic engagement and provide a statutory frame-
work upon which to pursue these aims. Addition-
ally, the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act
(2009), will significantly expand funding to create
and manage formal volunteer opportunities for in-
dividuals older than 55 years. Although not directly
intended to address the needs of older widows, these
policy advances could be leveraged to create inno-
vative approaches to assist this population by re-
ducing barriers and expanding access to organized
activities that benefit both the older individual and
the broader community.
The valuation of social participation in older
adults is not limited to legislative efforts. Significant
emphasis has been placed on civic engagement
among older adults by both research institutions and
funding sources. Given that emphasis, this research
suggests that greater scholarly attention might be
paid to engagement among widowed individuals as
they may particularly benefit from an increase in en-
gagement. Finally, agencies that serve older adults
should make an effort to make widowed individuals
aware of these opportunities for increased social
participation. By focusing efforts on increasing en-
gagement by widowed persons, agencies can target
their endeavors on a potentially vulnerable subset of
population, maximizing their overall efficacy.
In summary, as the population of widowed in-
dividuals grows in this country, mitigating the po-
tential deleterious consequences of spousal loss
becomes increasingly important. In this study, we
have shown that formal and informal social par-
ticipation emerge as increasing salient activities in
the initial period following widowhood and thus
may play a significant role in that mitigation.
Acknowledgement
The authors wish to acknowledge the contribution of Lindsey Dry in
the development of this manuscript.
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Received January 28, 2009
Accepted May 28, 2009
Decision Editor: William J. McAuley, PhD
169