Joint Goals in Older Couples: Associations With Goal Progress, Allostatic Load, and Relationship Satisfaction

Design and psychometric evaluation of the collaborative coping with infertility questionnaire in candidate of assisted reproductive techniques

Evaluating couples' coping with infertility and its impact on their mental health is valuable in designing supportive programs. Since infertility is a shared problem in married life, coping with it requires collaborative coping strategies. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to design and psychometrically evaluate the collaborative coping with infertility questionnaire (CCIQ) in candidates of assisted reproductive techniques (ART). The exploratory factor analysis of a 27-item questionnaire designed based on the Likert scale in the Persian language was evaluated through the principal component analysis method in a cross-sectional study conducted on 200 couples who volunteered for ART. The cut-off point of factor loadings was considered 0.4. Furthermore, the criterion validity of the questionnaire was evaluated using a 12-item revised Fertility Adjustment Scale (R-FAS) and its relationship with the score of the CCIQ. Moreover, the internal consistency of the questionnaire was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha correlation coefficient. In the exploratory factor analysis, 20 items with a factor loading above 0.4 were extracted under three factors. The three extracted factors with a value above one explained 43.78% of the variance of CCIQ. The factor loading of the accepted items ranged between 0.402 and 0.691. External reliability was confirmed with Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.98. The relationship between CCIQ and R-FAS score was significant (p < 0.0001). The results of the study showed that the 20-item CCIQ enjoyed acceptable validity and reliability in the three dimensions of 'dynamic interaction,' 'reorganizing married life goals,' and 'perception about infertility,' which can be used to evaluate collaborative coping with infertility questionnaire in ART candidates.

Sex and Gender and Allostatic Mechanisms of Cardiovascular Risk and Disease

Cardiovascular diseases are leading causes of mortality and morbidity in adults worldwide. Multiple studies suggest that there are clinically relevant sex differences in cardiovascular disease. Women and men differ substantially in terms of prevalence, presentation, management, and outcomes of cardiovascular disease. To date, however, little is known about why cardiovascular disease affects women and men differently. Because many studies do not differentiate the concept of sex and gender, it is sometimes difficult to discriminate sociocultural vs biological contributors that drive observed clinical differences. Female sex has some biological advantages in relation to cardiovascular disease, but many of these advantages seem to disappear as soon as women develop cardiovascular risk factors (eg, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia). Furthermore, stress and allostatic load could play an important role in the relationship between sex/gender and cardiovascular diseases. In this narrative review, we argue that chronic stress and psychosocial factors might better encompass the patterns of allostatic load increases seen in women, while biological risk factors and unhealthy behaviours might be more important mechanisms that drive increased allostatic load in men. Indeed, men show allostatic load patterns that are more associated with impaired anthropometric, metabolic, and cardiovascular functioning and women have greater dysregulation in neuroendocrine and immune functioning. Thus gender-related factors might contribute to the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease especially through stress mechanisms. It is important to continue to study the mechanisms by which gender influences chronic stress, because chronic stress could influence modifiable gendered factors to promote cardiovascular disease prevention.

Partner Contributions to Goal Pursuit: Findings From Repeated Daily Life Assessments With Older Couples

OBJECTIVES

This study focuses on the role of spouses for facilitating goal progress during a phase in life when individual resources for goal pursuit are particularly limited. Specifically, we examined the moderating role of relationship characteristics in old age for time-varying partner involvement-goal progress associations as couples engaged in their everyday lives. We also assessed time-varying associations between everyday goal progress, effectiveness of partner contributions, and spousal satisfaction with this contribution.

METHODS

We used multilevel modeling to analyze data from 118 couples (Mage = 70 years, SD = 5.9; 60-87 years, 50% women; 57% White). Both partners reported their personal goals and provided information on relationship satisfaction, conflict, and support. They also provided simultaneous ratings of everyday goal progress, effort, partner involvement as well as effectiveness of and satisfaction with partner contribution up to three times daily over 7 days.

RESULTS

In line with expectations, higher relationship satisfaction and support and lower conflict were associated with higher goal progress when the partner was involved in goal pursuit. Both effectiveness of and satisfaction with partner contributions were positively associated with everyday goal progress.

DISCUSSION

Whether partner involvement is beneficial for goal progress depends on characteristics of the relationship as well as what partners actually do in everyday life. This highlights the importance of considering both stable person characteristics as well as time-varying processes to capture the complexity of goal pursuit in older couples.