Assessing spousal support and health in an aging population: support and strain amidst changing social dynamics

Perceived Relational Support Is Associated With Everyday Positive, But Not Negative, Affectivity in a U.S. Sample

Research suggests that perceived social support bolsters emotional well-being. We tested whether perceived support from friends, family, and spouses/partners was associated with reduced negative and greater positive affectivity (i.e., everyday affective baseline), and whether perceived strain in these relationships had opposite effects, accounting for age and relevant covariates. Using data from the third waves of the Midlife in the United States survey and National Study of Daily Experience (n = 1,124), we found negative affectivity was not tied to relational support nor strain, but instead was associated positively with neuroticism and negatively with conscientiousness. In contrast, positive affectivity was related positively to support from friends and family, conscientiousness, and extroversion, and negatively to strain among partners and neuroticism. Exploratory analyses within second-wave Midlife in Japan data (n = 657) suggest patterns for future cross-cultural study. Some relationship dynamics may vary, but perceived support might enhance emotional well-being by bolstering positive, rather than mitigating negative, emotionality.

Which wound cuts deeper: loss of an only child or loss of a spouse? An examination of bereavement in older adults within a Chinese cultural context

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to examine whether the loss of spouse had similar impacts on psychological well-being as the loss of the only child, and whether the presence of one mitigated the absence of the other.

METHODS

We used data from a 2013 survey conducted in Shanghai, China. The sample included 1,200 older adults aged 60+, and 200 adults aged 45+ who lost their only child. Psychological well-being consisted of three dimensions: depression, loneliness, and life satisfaction. We applied logistic regression models to assess the impact of loss of spouse or children on psychological well-being. We further tested whether the impact differed by gender and whether social support mediated the relationship.

RESULTS

Participants who have at least one living child but lost their spouse had less psychological distress than those who have a living spouse but lost their only child. This effect appeared to be stronger in women than in men. Social support mediated the relationship between bereavement and loneliness among women.

CONCLUSION

The findings suggested the loss of the only child is a more devastating event than the loss of spouse in Chinese adults. The loss of the only child is a major chronic stressor that has cumulative negative effect on psychological well-being.