Past traumatic losses and their impact on the well-being of elderly men

This study explored the effect of past traumatic losses on the well-being of elderly men, focusing on losses related to the Nazi Holocaust and on traumatic personal losses of significant others. Two issues were addressed: the relationships between past traumatic losses and well-being in aging and the interaction between past traumatic losses and current age-related losses (work loss, health loss, financial loss, and social loss). Data were collected from 60 elderly men via a semistructured interview. Past traumatic losses were found to have an impact on well-being in aging. However, while Holocaust losses had a negative impact, traumatic personal losses had a positive impact. In addition, health loss in aging tended to negatively affect well-being. Interactions were found between past traumatic losses and aging losses in predicting well-being in aging. Results are discussed within the vulnerability and inoculation perspectives.