Widowhood and cognitive function among older adults in China: short-, medium-, and long-term relationships and underlying mechanisms

These findings underscore the importance of prompt and long-term psychosocial interventions to alleviate stress behaviors among the widowed. Community-level initiatives should be taken to offer social leisure activities to support the widowed in fostering new social connections. In addition, female widows need longer attention from stress-relieving behaviors and increased social participation.