Marital strain trajectories over a quarter century and spouses' loneliness: Couple-level and individual pathways

The association between relationship strain and emotional well-being among older adult couples: the moderating role of social connectedness

OBJECTIVES

The present study examines the moderating role of social connectedness (i.e. closeness, talk frequency, social network size, and neighborhood social ties) in the association between one's own and spouse's relationship strain and emotional well-being (i.e. depressive symptoms, happiness, and loneliness).

METHOD

Married couples (N = 865) were drawn from the second wave of the National Social, Health, and Aging Project. One Actor Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) and one Actor Partner Interdependence Model with Moderation (APIMoM) were conducted.

RESULTS

In terms of actor effects, relationship strain was associated with all emotional well-being outcomes. Wives' and husbands' greater relationship strain was associated with spouses' loneliness. Only wives' greater relationship strain was associated with her husbands' higher level of depressive symptoms and no partner effects were found for happiness. In six instances, social connectedness factors helped to ameliorate the association between self/spouse relationship strain, depressive symptoms, and happiness. However, wives' greater neighborhood social ties amplified the association between wives greater relationship strain and husbands' greater depressive symptoms. We did not find that social connectedness factors moderated the associations between self/spouse relationship strain and loneliness.

CONCLUSION

Even in late life marriages, marital strain is associated with less happiness and greater depressive symptoms and loneliness. Practitioners addressing emotional well-being may need to pay attention to spousal perceptions of relationship strain and social relationships external to the marital relationship when working with heterosexual couples. Efforts throughout the life course should be made to ensure connections with diverse types of social networks.Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2021.1910786.

Negative marital interaction, purpose in life, and depressive symptoms among middle-aged and older couples: evidence from the Health and Retirement Study

OBJECTIVE

Negative marital interaction and purpose in life have been associated with depressive symptoms. Yet, these associations have not been fully explored in a dyadic context. This study examines the actor (intra-individual) and partner (cross-spousal) effects of negative marital interaction on depressive symptoms in couples and the potential mediating role of purpose in life.

METHODS

Data came from 1186 heterosexual married couples who participated in the 2016 (T1) and 2018 (T2) waves of the Health and Retirement Study and completed the psychosocial questionnaire in 2016. Structural equation modeling was used to estimate the direct and indirect associations among T1 negative marital interaction, T1 purpose in life, and T2 depressive symptoms at the actor and partner levels. Models controlled for age, race, educational level, self-rated health, and length of marriage.

RESULTS

At the actor level, a greater negative marital interaction was associated with significantly lower levels of purpose in life for husbands and wives. Negative marital interaction was also associated with depressive symptoms for wives. Purpose in life mediated the relationship between negative marital interaction and depressive symptoms. At the partner level, wives' negative marital interaction was negatively associated with husbands' purpose in life, independent of husbands' own effects.

CONCLUSION

The findings support the dominant marital discord model of depression and highlight gender differences in the cross-spousal effects of negative marital interaction on purpose in life. Positive psychology interventions can be beneficial to promote purpose in life and subsequently improve mental health outcomes among couples.

Midlife Marital and Financial Stress and the Progression of Later-Life Health Problems for Husbands and Wives

Objectives: Locating the family systems theory within the life course stress process perspective, this study investigates how husbands' and wives' marital and financial stress were implicated in their subsequent physical health, psychological distress, and loneliness. Methods: Using prospective data from 254 husbands and wives over 27 years, a path model examined the influence of marital stress and family financial stress during midlife (40-50 years) on later-life (65+ years) physical health, psychological distress, and loneliness. Results: For wives, loneliness was a mechanism linking marital stress to their health outcomes and their husbands' physical health. For husbands, physical health was a mechanism linking financial strain to husbands' health outcomes and wives' physical health. Discussion: The findings emphasize the consideration of midlife financial and marital stress for policies and programs for older adults, particularly the prevention of loneliness and improving interpersonal processes, as ways to protect from earlier stressful experiences.

Long-Term Physical Health Consequences of Financial and Marital Stress in Middle-Aged Couples

OBJECTIVE

To examine psychological health as a mechanism linking economic pressure and marital instability in the early middle years to poor physical health in later life.

BACKGROUND

Although previous research suggests that sustained stressful marital experience may lead to mental and physical health problems, little is known about how contextual factors, such as economic pressure, impact marital outcomes, and how changes in marital attributes influence health outcomes in a longitudinal and dyadic context.

METHOD

Utilizing an actor-partner interdependence model within a latent growth curve approach and prospective data from couples in enduring marriages, we examined the associations between family economic pressure, marital instability, and mental health over their early middle years (1989-1994) and subsequent physical health in later adulthood (2015). Analyses assessed a couple-level pathway and an individual pathway involving within-spouse and between-spouse effects.

RESULTS

During the middle years, family financial difficulties were linked to reduced marital stability, which was associated with increased mental health challenges. The findings also reinforced the salient role of psychological distress for subsequent physical health outcomes as husbands' and wives' anxiety symptoms over their early middle years contributed to declines in their physical health outcomes in later adulthood. A partner effect was noted between husbands' anxiety and wives' physical health.

CONCLUSION

For couples, experiences of financial and marital stress in their early middle years can have long-lasting detrimental impacts on their physical health in later adulthood.

Couple BMI trajectory patterns during mid-later years: Socioeconomic stratification and later-life physical health outcomes

Although previous studies have documented spousal resemblance in health attributes, questions remain regarding the longitudinal resemblance of spouses' body mass index (BMI) and the possible formation of couple-level BMI trajectory patterns. Consequentially, we know little about how the longitudinal resemblance of spouses' BMI may link couples' varying socioeconomic experiences to their physical health outcomes in later years. Thus, the present study using prospective data from a sample of 255 couples in enduring marriages over a period of 26 years (from 1991 to 2017) examined (a) the existence of couple-level BMI trajectory patterns in mid-later years, (b) their social stratification into heterogeneous groups of couples associated with family economic hardship (FEH), and (c) differential later-life health outcomes of these groups. The results provided evidence for groups of couples with distinct BMI trajectory patterns. These groups were associated with latent groups of FEH trajectories, suggesting a persistent association between couple BMI and FEH. Couple BMI trajectory patterns were consequential for physical health consequences in later years. Two features of couple BMI trajectory patterns, severity and synchrony, were utilized to explain these associations. Taken together, the results provided evidence for a couple-level FEH-BMI-health process over the life course and emphasize the impact of severity and synchrony in couples' BMI for their health problems in later adulthood. Findings are discussed as they relate to health policies and interventions focusing on the well-being of married couples in later life, particularly the need for couple-focused obesity-related interventions and policies that mitigate economic hardship given its long-lasting health impacts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).