The main objective of the project described in this application is to study the grieving process in aged men subsequent to a conjugal loss. The project employs a prospective methodology and follows a cohort of widowers by means of five interviews over twelve months starting three weeks after the loss. Attention will be given to the definition and measurement of psychological, sociological, and neuroendocrine variables that characterize the process of grief by an interdisciplinary team. Furthermore, attention will be given also to several postulated mechanisms of pathogenesis of the illness complications that occur secondary to a loss. Data will be collected through structured and semi-structured interviews. The data will include semi-structured narrative information, several psychological and social psychological measures, pulse, blood pressure, blood and urine hormonal determinations, measures of various psychopathological dimensions and syndromes, and information from medical or public records. Multiple dimensions of outcome have been specified. The basic analytical strategy will be governed by a search for concurrent validation of psychological and social concepts using the physiological variables, a search for predictive validation of the independent and process variables using the multiple outcomes, an effort to elucidate pathogenetic mechanisms, and an exploration of the data for new leads in the field of stress and illness. The overall design will provide a validated description of the grieving process in middle-aged and elderly men.