Moderating role of marital quality in older adults' depressed affect: beyond the main-effects model

Hospitality and COVID-19: a willingness to choose e-consultation owing to unemployment and home isolation

Purpose

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was declared as a pandemic since COVID-19's widespread outbreak and the hospitality industry has been the hardest hit due to lockdown. Consequently, hospitality workers are suffering from the negative aspects of mental health. In the event of such a crisis, this study aims to explore the link between unemployment and home isolation to the willingness to choose electronic consultation (e-consultation) by exploiting psychological ill-being and behavioural intention (BI) with marital status as a moderator.

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative methodology is applied to primary data collected from 310 workers from the hospitality industry through an online survey.

Findings

Findings of this study suggest that the usage of the e-consultation service can be adopted using three levels. There are valid reasons to conclude unemployment and home isolation are linked to higher rates of psychological health behaviours, which can result in stigma, loss of self-worth and increased mortality. The adverse effect is higher for single individuals than for married people.

Originality/value

The study focussed on e-consultation, BI coupled with the Fishbein scale and a classification model for the prediction of willingness to choose e-consultation with the extension of Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB).

The Effects of Familial Social Support Relationships on Identity Meaning in Older Adults: A Longitudinal Investigation

This study aimed to examine whether social support promotes identity meaning among older adults. We hypothesized that when two spouses exchange social support, their sense of marital identity is enhanced. Among older adults, parental identity may be more strongly enhanced when parents provide social support to their children rather than receive social support from them. We conducted a longitudinal survey of 355 older adults (240 men and 115 women aged >60 years), who were assessed four times over 2 years. First, we confirmed the relationship between social support and identity meaning using an autoregressive path model. Second, we examined the effect of social support on the trajectory of role identities in a growth curve model. The intercepts of receiving support and providing support were significantly associated with the intercept of marital identity. In addition, the intercept of identity meaning for parents correlated with the intercept of providing support to their children but not with that of receiving support from their children. Social support between family members promotes role identities in family relationships. In particular, providing support to children correlates with parental roles which connect to subjective well-being.

Spousal Support, Spousal Strain, and Loneliness in Older Mexican Couples

OBJECTIVES

A growing body of research has identified factors related to loneliness among older adults. Fewer have investigated predictors of loneliness within married couples. This analysis investigates how spousal support and strain relate with loneliness within older couples (age 50+), and whether these associations are modified by functional limitation. The study focuses on Mexico, a country experiencing rapid aging occurring alongside historically limited institutional support for older adults, and where traditional gender roles extend to marriage.

METHODS

The analytic sample consisted of 3,584 husband-wife dyads from the 2012 and 2015 Mexican Health and Aging Study. Loneliness was measured using the Three-Item Loneliness Scale. Associations between spousal support, strain, and loneliness were estimated within husband-wife dyads using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model.

RESULTS

Experiencing more spousal support was associated with less loneliness, whereas experiencing spousal strain was associated with more loneliness 3 years later among married adults. The associations between spousal support/strain and loneliness were stronger among husbands with limitations in activities of daily living (ADL) when compared to their counterparts without ADL limitations.

DISCUSSION

Among married adults, spousal support and strain may be important factors to understand loneliness within marriage. Effects should be interpreted within the context of functional limitation.

Quality of Life and Life Satisfaction in Young Adults with Primary Congenital Glaucoma

PURPOSE

Little is known about quality of life (QoL) and life satisfaction (LS) of treated primary congenital glaucoma (PCG) patients in adulthood. The purpose of this study was to assess the QoL and LS and their predictors among young adults treated for PCG during early childhood.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

PARTICIPANTS

Eighty-two participants with PCG (mean age, 22.5 years; standard deviation [SD], 4.6); 52% were male; 94% bilateral) recruited at L V Prasad Eye Institute.

METHODS

Participants were asked to complete the 26-item World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire (items related to satisfaction with general health, physical, psychological, social relations, and environmental aspects) and the 5-item Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) in the clinic visit. Clinical data including visual acuity (VA) and visual fields (VFs) were collated from medical records. Rasch analysis was used to optimize the psychometric properties, with higher scores indicating a higher degree of QoL and LS, for both the questionnaires. Linear regression models were used to examine associations between overall QoL and LS (in separate models), and sociodemographic and clinical variables.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

The QoL and LS were measured using Rasch-transformed scores from the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire and SWLS, respectively.

RESULTS

Response rate was 93%. The overall mean (SD) Rasch-scaled scores for QoL were 0.93 (1.11) and 0.87 (1.32) for environment domain and 0.41 (1.56) logits for LS. Better QoL was significantly related to rural residence and higher education in both univariable and multivariable analyses and explained 13% variance. Higher LS was significantly related to marital status, unilateral affliction, and higher education in univariable analyses. However, multivariable regression analysis showed that only marital status was independently associated with higher LS and explained 8.8% of variance. Clinical and treatment variables (VF, surgical interventions, medications) were not independent predictors of QoL/LS.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that QoL and LS of treated patients with PCG during adult life are generally good and appear to be driven by factors other than clinical indices. Educational achievement appears to be linked to better QoL and LS, and clinicians should emphasize the importance and need for education in the continued care of these patients.

Self-Regulation, Marital Climate, and Emotional Well-Being among Japanese Older Couples

Although the association of self-regulation and well-being are well researched, few studies have addressed the dynamic mechanism of this relationship within married couples. This study examined the relationships of self-regulation and marital climate with the emotional well-being of both actors and partners among older Japanese couples. Through a mail survey, 498 older couples with husbands (aged in their 70s) and their wives (aged 60 or over) responded to a questionnaire comprising measures of selective optimization with compensation (SOC), tenacious goal pursuit and flexible goal adjustment, marital climate, and emotional well-being. The results of hierarchical linear modeling showed that positive interpretation was associated with not only their own lower depressive symptomatology and higher life satisfaction but also those of their partners. Furthermore, tenacious goal pursuit was beneficially associated with older adults' life satisfaction. Marital climate was positively related to emotional well-being and the association was larger among wives than among husbands. However, contrary to expectations, use of an optimization strategy was negatively linked to partners' life satisfaction, but not actors'. Besides confirming the apparent benefits of self-regulation for actors' well-being, self-regulation could be beneficially or detrimentally related to partners' well-being. To be happy in old age, it seems more important for individuals to care for their spouses and create a favorable marital climate than to pursue their own goals exclusively. There remains, however, a need to simultaneously examine the associations of both intrapersonal (self) and interpersonal (collective) regulatory processes with well-being.

Upward social comparison on mobile social media and depression: The mediating role of envy and the moderating role of marital quality

BACKGROUND

The use of mobile social media enables individuals to learn about others' lives, which may lead to upward social comparison. Evidence has shown that upward social comparison on mobile social media can have negative effect for individuals' mental health, such as a higher risk of depression. Previous studies on this issue have mainly focused on adolescents and college students, but less on married adults' well-being. Moreover, mechanisms underlying this association have not been well-documented.

METHODS

A total of 514 Chinese married adults (62% female) were recruited from 26 regions in China. They completed measures of upward social comparison on mobile social media, envy, marriage quality and depression.

RESULTS

The results showed a positive association between upward social comparison on mobile social media and depression, which was completely mediated by envy. The direct effect of upward social comparison on depression, and the relation between upward social comparison and envy, were both moderated by marital quality. More specifically that upward social comparison on mobile social media was more strongly associated with depression and envy in adults with lower marital quality.

LIMITATIONS

This study only focused on the interpersonal factor (i.e., marriage quality) as a moderating variable, not investigating the potential moderating roles of personality factors and other interpersonal factors. In addition, the cross-sectional in design could not examine the causal relationships among the variables.

CONCLUSIONS

High marriage quality can protect married adults from the adverse effects of upward social comparison on mobile social media.

Marital Quality, Loneliness, and Depressive Symptoms Later in Life: The Moderating Role of Own and Spousal Functional Limitations

Loneliness is a mechanism through which marital quality relates to older adults' mental health. Links between marital quality, loneliness, and depressive symptoms, however, are often examined independent of older adults' functional health. The current study therefore examines whether associations between marital quality, loneliness, and depressive symptoms are contextually dependent on individuals' own (or their spouse's) functional limitations, as well as on gender. Data came from couples (N = 1084) who participated in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a nationally representative dataset of older adults (age 50+). We utilized data from the 2014 leave-behind psychosocial questionnaire to measure spousal support/strain and loneliness, and interview data from 2014 to measure baseline depressive symptoms and demographic covariates (e.g., race and education). Depressive symptoms in 2016 served as the focal outcome variable. Findings from a series of path models estimated in MPLUS indicated that loneliness is a mechanism through which spousal support predicts older adults' depressive symptoms. Such linkages, however, were dependent on individuals' own functional limitations and gender. For functionally limited males in particular, spousal support was shown to reduce depressive symptoms insofar as it was associated with lower levels of loneliness; otherwise, it was associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms. Such findings reinforce the importance of taking a contextualized approach when examining associations between support and emotional well-being later in life.

The Good, the Bad, and the Indifferent: Physical Disability, Social Role Configurations, and Changes in Loneliness Among Married and Unmarried Older Adults

Objectives: To examine how social role configurations (SRCs)-combinations of the quality of spousal, family, and friend relationships-moderate the association between functional limitations (FLs) and loneliness among married and unmarried older adults and whether this differs by gender. Method: Longitudinal data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project on married (n = 945) and unmarried (n = 443) older adults (aged 57-85 years). Latent class analysis was used to identify SRCs. Tobit regression models examined the associations between FLs, SRCs, and loneliness. Results: Nine SRCs were identified. The effectiveness of SRCs for coping with FLs did not differ by marital status despite higher loneliness among the unmarried. Only for women with FLs did SRCs characterized by negativity/strain exacerbate loneliness. For men with FLs, SRCs characterized by excess positivity/support were problematic. Discussion: These findings underscore the importance of considering how SRCs provide resources for coping with FLs that have gendered implications.

Disability and Activity-related Emotion in Later Life: Are Effects Buffered by Intimate Relationship Support and Strain?

We use daily diary data from the Disability and Use of Time supplement to the 2013 Panel Study of Income Dynamics ( n = 1,162) to evaluate (1) the extent to which marital/partner support and strain moderate the effects of disability on five activity-related emotions (happiness, calm, sadness, frustration, worry) and overall negative and positive emotion among older married, cohabiting, and dating persons and (2) whether such patterns differ significantly by gender. Marital support buffers against negative emotions and increases feelings of calm among severely impaired women. By contrast, support intensifies negative emotions and decreases feelings of calm among severely impaired men. Relationship strain also intensifies the effect of severe impairment on men's frustration, sadness, worry, and negative mood but has negligible effects on the negative emotions of men with low impairment and women. Frequent support and criticism may threaten highly impaired older men's sense of autonomy and emotional well-being.

Activity Restriction and Depressive Symptoms in Older Couples

OBJECTIVE

The present study aimed to clarify the circumstances under which activity restriction (AR) is associated with depressive symptoms among patients with osteoarthritis (OA) and their spouses.

METHOD

A total of 220 older adults with OA and their caregiving spouses participated in the study. The actor-partner interdependence model (APIM) was used to examine the associations between AR stemming from patients' OA and the depressive symptoms of patients and spouses. The potential moderating role of marital satisfaction also was examined.

RESULTS

After accounting for pain severity, health, and life stress of both patients with OA and spouses, higher AR was associated with more depressive symptoms for both patients and spouses. In regard to partner effects, patients whose spouse had higher AR reported more depressive symptoms. In addition, the association of spouses' and patients' AR and their own depressive symptoms was moderated by their marital satisfaction. For both patients and spouses, the associations between their own AR and depressive symptoms were weaker for those with higher levels of marital satisfaction compared with those with lower levels of marital satisfaction.

DISCUSSION

This pattern of findings highlights the dyadic implications of AR and the vital role of marital satisfaction in the context of chronic illness.

Physical Disability and Increased Loneliness among Married Older Adults: The Role of Changing Social Relations

Examining the social context of disablement, we investigated how changes in social relations affect loneliness among married older men and women. With longitudinal data on 914 married persons from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP), we found that changes in the quality of marital and nonmarital relations moderate the effect of disability on loneliness in unexpected ways. Increases in negative marital quality buffer the effect of physical disability, while increases in nonmarital support exacerbate it. Although not predicted by existing theory, these findings are consistent with some prior work suggesting that health-related stressors, like physical disability, condition the meaning of changes in social relations. We find, however, that negative social relations ameliorate loneliness only among disabled married men; disabled married women experience increased loneliness under similar circumstances. These differences have not been previously identified. We conclude by discussing the gendered nature of the social context of disablement.

Marriage, Relationship Quality, and Sleep among U.S. Older Adults

Sleep is a restorative behavior essential for health. Poor sleep has been linked to adverse health outcomes among older adults; however, we know little about the social processes that affect sleep. Using innovative actigraphy data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (N = 727), we considered the role of marriage, positive marital relationship support, and negative marital relationship strain on older adults' (ages 62-90) self-reported and actigraph-measured sleep characteristics. We found that married older adults had better actigraph-estimated but not self-reported sleep characteristics than the unmarried. However, among the married, those who reported more negative aspects of their marital relationship reported more insomnia symptoms, with the association reduced when psychosocial characteristics were added to the model. The married who reported more positive aspects of their marital relationship showed better actigraph-estimated sleep characteristics; taking characteristics of the physical and mental health and home environment into account reduced this association.

Hundred forty eight more days with depression: the association between marital conflict and depression-free days

BACKGROUND

Although collaborative care programs are effective in improving late-life depression, only about half of treated patients achieve clinically meaningful improvement. Thus, we need to examine what characteristics may predict poor late-life depression course. Despite the robust evidence for the negative association between the quality of couple relationships and depression outcomes, few studies have examined these associations in the context of long-term late-life depression course.

AIM

The objective of this study is to examine the relations between the severity of couple conflict, receiving collaborative depression care program, and 24-months depression outcomes.

METHODS

Study sample comprised 840 depressed older adults subsample from the improving mood, promoting access to collaborative treatment for late-life depression trial (IMPACT). Depression and couple conflict were assessed at baseline, 12-month, and 24-month follow-up. Descriptive statistics and multivariate regression analyses were performed to examine mean 24-month depression-free days (DFD) and the marginal effects of receiving IMAPCT program over usual care among participants with varying degrees of 24-month couple conflict.

RESULTS

Compared with those who never endorsed frequent couple conflict over the three observation points, those who did twice had 63 fewer DFD (p = 0.01), and those who did three times experienced 148 fewer DFD (p < 0.001). Although the marginal effects of receiving IMPACT program over usual care was greater in overall sample, it was not statistically significant among those who endorsed frequent conflict at two or three times.

CONCLUSION

Frequent couple conflict is associated with worse long-term late-life depression outcomes among the patients in primary care clinics.

Dyadic Adjustment Scale: a validation study among older French-Canadians living in relationships

The principal objective of this study, the first of its kind to use this population, is to describe the factor analysis and validity of the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (EAD) among 895 French Canadian seniors living as couples. A confirmatory factor analysis was carried out using structural equation modeling. Results support Spanier's hierarchical model questionnaire (1976). Results also indicate evidence of validity and reliability satisfactorily set aside for the Affective Expression subscale having a lower Cronbach alpha coefficient. The results also indicate strong validity of the scale according to indices of convergent and discriminant validity. Finally, a discussion is presented addressing considerations to be taken into account for using the questionnaire among older couples.

Relationship quality and shared activity in marital and cohabiting dyads in the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project, Wave 2

OBJECTIVES

This paper introduces scales on shared activity and relationship quality for married and partnered older adults using multiple indicators from the second wave of National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project.

METHOD

We assessed the reliability of the scales using Cronbach's alpha and the item-total correlation. We conducted exploratory factor analysis to explore the structure of the items and compared the distribution of each scale means by age group and gender.

RESULTS

We found that the relational quality scale has a 2-factor structure, including a positive and negative dimension. The shared activity scale has a 1-factor structure. We found that partnered men show both higher positive and higher negative relationship quality than do partnered women, suggesting that more older men than women experience ambivalent feelings toward their spouse or partner and more women than men have relationships of indifferent quality, with relatively low costs and relatively low benefits.

DISCUSSION

The separate conceptualization of shared activity and relationship quality provides one way to examine the dynamic nature of marital quality in later life such as the extent to which shared activities among couples promote or detract from relationships' quality. Analyses for individuals and for dyads are discussed.

Gender differences of social interactions and their effects on subjective well-being among Japanese elders

OBJECTIVES

Gender differences of social interactions and their effects on subjective well-being among Japanese elders over three years were examined.

METHODS

Repeated measurements of 498 elders over a three-year survey interval were obtained from a baseline mail survey and two- and three-year follow-up surveys. Outcomes were analyzed using Hierarchical Linear Modeling.

RESULTS

Male elders were more likely to have a spouse and work at paid jobs, while female elders were likely to have more frequent contacts with their child/children and more interactions with friends. As the elders aged over three years, life satisfaction decreased, while depression did not show any significant overall trend. There were no beneficial effects of social interactions on change in well-being, although social participation, interaction with friends, and conversation with spouse were beneficially related to baseline levels of both depressive tendency and life satisfaction. Among female elders only, the number of children had beneficial effects on life satisfaction.

CONCLUSIONS

There are modest gender differences of the impact of social interactions on the well-being of Japanese elders, and the number of children seems to be more important as potential sources of support for female rather than male elders. Spousal conversation and non-obligatory social interaction such as unpaid social activities and friendship seem to be important for both male and female elders in Japan. These findings suggest that social relations among Japanese elders may be moving away from more gender dependent patterns seen in the past.

Marital functioning and psychological distress among older couples over an 18-month period

Many authors have underlined the existence of a negative association between marital functioning and psychological distress. However, little is known about the direction of this association over time among older couples. This study examined the relation over time between psychological distress and marital functioning among 394 community-dwelling couples. The authors conducted dyadic data analyses to determine whether marital functioning at baseline (T1) predicted psychological distress 18 months later (T2), and inversely. The results for women suggested that marital and psychological functioning may each predict the other. The results for men showed that marital problems lead to more psychological distress. The authors found some significant partner effects: In both genders, the marital functioning of one spouse influenced the marital functioning of the other. Men's marital functioning at baseline significantly predicted women's psychological distress at T2. The authors conducted analyses also to determine how 6 patterns of change in marital functioning between times were associated with changes in psychological distress, and inversely. Changes characterized by an increase in psychological distress over time in at least 1 spouse were associated with a decrease in marital functioning. These findings underlined the importance for clinicians and researchers to pay closer attention to the association between these variables.

Social network and mobility improvement among older Europeans: the ambiguous role of family ties

This study examined the social network correlates of improvement in lower extremity mobility among respondents aged 65 and older from the longitudinal sample of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. The study focused on those who self-reported having difficulties with four lower extremity functions: (1) walking 100 m; (2) rising from a seated position; (3) climbing flights of steps; and (4) stooping, kneeling, or crouching. Multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that social networks were variously associated with improvement in lower extremity function at the two-year follow-up. The findings suggest that under certain circumstances, a lack of social support in late life may actually promote mobility improvement. The research also shows that family networks are not always facilitative of mobility improvement. This is in contrast to previously published social network research positing that supportive relationships help foster health and buffer stressors in late life. Family caregivers and social services should keep this in mind when devising treatment plans upon discharge from the hospital and implementing care management plans for frail older persons in the community.

Widening the social context of disablement among married older adults: Considering the role of nonmarital relationships for loneliness

Utilizing the stress process and life course perspectives, we investigated the influence of non-spousal social support on the associations between marital quality, physical disability, and loneliness among married older adults. Using data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP), we found that the association between physical disability and loneliness was partially accounted for by the fact that physical disability was associated with less supportive nonmarital relationships. While physically-disabled older adults in higher-quality marriages were buffered from loneliness, supportive non-martial relationships did not offset elevated loneliness among those in low-quality marriages. These associations were largely similar for men and women. Thus, although both marital and nonmarital relationships are important for loneliness, when confronted with a stressor such as disablement it is the marital relationship alone that matters.

The social context of disablement among older adults: does marital quality matter for loneliness?

Prior research has not adequately considered that disablement occurs within a web of relationships that provides socioemotional resources to and/or places demands on older adults. Drawing on the stress process and life course perspectives, we considered the social context of disablement by examining the influence of marital quality on the association between disability and loneliness among married older adults. Using data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project, we found (1) functional limitations were associated with higher levels of loneliness; (2) neither positive nor negative marital quality mediated this association, contrary to the stress-deterioration hypothesis; and (3) positive (but not negative) marital quality moderated this association, consistent with the stress-buffering hypothesis. These associations were similar for women and men. Our findings indicate the importance of the social context of disablement, as interpersonal resources offer protection from the deleterious socioemotional consequences of disability.

Marital quality as a moderator of the effects of poor vision on quality of life among older adults

OBJECTIVES

This study assessed the moderating role of marital quality in the effects of subjective and objective vision on functional limitations, social isolation, and depressive symptomatology.

METHOD

Data from 738 married older adults drawn from a probability-based representative sample of elders residing in the United States were used. Assessments included subjective and objective vision, marital quality variables (relationship satisfaction, supportive spouse behaviors, and free time spent with one's spouse), and three aspects of quality of life (functional limitations, social isolation, and depressive symptomatology).

RESULTS

Moderated regression analyses found that relationship satisfaction and supportive spouse behaviors moderated the effects of poor self-reported vision on functional limitations and depressive symptoms and the effects of poor visual acuity on functional limitations. As hypothesized, poorer vision was unrelated to functional limitations and depressive symptoms in more satisfying marriages but predicted higher levels of both outcomes in less satisfying marriages. Contrary to expectations, higher levels of supportive spouse behaviors were associated with more functional limitations in respondents who reported poorer subjective and objective vision.

DISCUSSION

A marriage that is highly satisfying can mitigate the adverse effects of poor vision on functional limitations and depressive symptomatology in late life. The moderating role of supportive spouse behaviors in the link between poor vision and quality of life is less intuitive, however. Whereas relationship satisfaction may operate as a traditional buffer in the context of poor vision, supportive spouse behaviors may increase in response to or be ineffective in this context.

Spousal interrelations in self-reports of cognition in the context of marital problems

BACKGROUND

Problems with cognitive function are common among older adults, yet there is little research assessing the extent to which the cognitive problems of older husbands and wives are related to those of their partners and whether any observed relationships are moderated by gender or marital quality.

OBJECTIVES

Our purpose was to analyze longitudinal relationships between older spouses' cognitive function and the cognitive function of their partners 5 years later, as well as to assess moderating roles of gender and marital quality.

METHODS

The subjects were 378 community-dwelling couples aged 46-89 years at baseline who were followed for 5 years. Cognitive function was measured with a scale assessing problems remembering names, finding the right word, misplacing things and paying attention. Marital quality was assessed by comparing those reporting marital problems often or sometimes with those reporting marital problems rarely or never. All data were collected by self-report. Statistical models adjusted for paired data where appropriate and included partner cognitive function, age, chronic conditions and financial hardship. Stratified models assessed moderating roles of gender and marital problems.

RESULTS

We found a negative relationship between husbands' baseline lower cognitive function and wives' subsequent cognitive function but only for the wives reporting marital problems. We found no comparable relationship between wives' baseline lower cognitive function and their husbands' subsequent cognitive function.

CONCLUSIONS

Our gender-specific finding for wives is consistent with the gender differences noted in 2 previous studies. The limitation to wives with problems in their marriages is a new finding and might follow increased stress and depression responding to changes in their husbands' cognitive functioning.

What's love got to do with it? Social functioning, perceived health, and daily happiness in married octogenarians

This study examined day-to-day links between perceived health and happiness and between time spent with others and happiness in 47 older adult couples over an 8-day period. Marital satisfaction and time spent with others were explored as potential moderators of links between health and happiness. For both men and women, hierarchical linear modeling revealed daily links between more time spent with others and greater happiness. Daily links between time spent with one's partner and happiness were strongly moderated by marital satisfaction. For both men and women, marital satisfaction buffered day-to-day links between poorer perceived health and a decline in happiness, but time spent with others did not. This study provides support for the role of marital satisfaction in protecting older adults' happiness from daily fluctuations in perceived physical health and for the influence of social connections in promoting happiness in the lives of older adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).

Individual well-being in middle and older adulthood: do spousal beliefs matter?

Associations between health, control beliefs, and well-being in later life are frequently conceptualized in terms of the characteristics of individuals. However, spousal interdependencies in psychosocial characteristics are also likely to be relevant for well-being. The present study investigated associations of self-rated health, control, and relationship closeness with life satisfaction and positive and negative affect in a sample of 2,235 spousal dyads. A significant proportion of variance in health, control, closeness, and well-being occurred between dyads. Individuals' self-rated health, control, and relationship closeness were associated with higher well-being. Spouses' self-rated health and control beliefs were consistently and positively associated with individuals' well-being; however, effect sizes were small. Some evidence for individual's control beliefs buffering the association between health and well-being emerged, whereas spouses' perceived control was not a significant moderator of the health-well-being association. Results highlight the importance of couple interdependencies for contextualizing health and well-being in older adulthood.

Optimism, pessimism, mutuality, and gender: predicting 10-year role strain in Parkinson's disease spouses

PURPOSE

There is wide variability in how spouses providing care respond to their care situations. Few studies focus on the roles of both intra- and interpersonal factors in long-term spousal care, particularly in the context of Parkinson's disease (PD). The current study uses longitudinal data over a 10-year period to examine the roles of optimism, pessimism, mutuality, and spouse gender in predicting role strain in PD spouses.

DESIGN AND METHODS

A longitudinal design was used to study 255 spouses of persons with PD over a 10-year period, with data points at baseline (Year 0), Year 2, and Year 10. A series of multilevel models were used to examine four role strain variables -- global strain, strain from worry, strain from feelings of being manipulated, and strain from increased tension.

RESULTS

Female spouse gender predicted both higher Year 10 role strain and faster increases in role strain over the 10-year period. In addition, high mutuality and optimism and low pessimism at baseline played important protective roles against increased role strain at Year 10.

IMPLICATIONS

This study focused on early-stage spousal care in a primarily physical disability context. Findings suggest that gender differences place wives at greater risk for negative outcomes, even in the absence of dementia. Additionally, clinicians have opportunities to target interventions early in the care trajectory based on intra- and interpersonal risk factors.

The impact of parent care on marital quality and well-being in adult daughters and sons

This study prospectively examined the long-term impact of providing parent care using data from a probability-based U.S. sample of adult daughters and sons who had varying parent care experiences over time (N = 716). Parent care x Gender x Time mixed multivariate analyses of covariance using marital quality and well-being indicators as outcomes showed that, on average, experienced caregivers reported less marital happiness, more marital role inequity, and greater hostility than recent adult child caregivers. Significant three-way interactions indicated that experienced and recent caregiving daughters, respectively, showed an increase over time in depressive symptomatology and long-term depression, whereas their male counterparts showed a decline over the same period. Findings are discussed in terms of gender differences in the relative applicability of the wear-and-tear versus adaptation models of caregiving outcomes.