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

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Elliane Irani ◽  
Sumin Park ◽  
Ronald L. Hickman
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Purpose In Life ◽  
Health And Retirement Study ◽  
Marital Interaction ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Older Couples ◽  
Retirement Study

scholarly journals DISCORDANT CHRONIC CONDITIONS AND DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS AMONG MIDDLE-AGED AND OLDER COUPLES

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S58-S58
Author(s):  
Courtney A Polenick ◽  
Kira S Birditt ◽  
Angela Turkelson ◽  
Benjamin Bugajski ◽  
Helen C Kales
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Marital Quality ◽  
Chronic Conditions ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Minority Status ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Older Couples ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Retirement Study

Abstract Discordant chronic conditions (i.e., those with competing management requirements) have adverse consequences for well-being, yet little is known about their implications among couples. We evaluated how depressive symptoms are linked to discordant conditions within individuals and between spouses across an 8-year period. The U.S. sample included 1,116 middle-aged and older couples from five waves (2006 – 2014) of the Health and Retirement Study. Longitudinal actor-partner interdependence models controlled for age, minority status, education, depressive symptoms in the previous wave, and each partner’s report of baseline marital quality and number of chronic conditions in each wave. Wives and husbands with their own discordant conditions reported higher depressive symptoms, and this association intensified over time. Over and above this link, husbands had higher depressive symptoms when there were discordant conditions between spouses. Both individual-level and couple-level discordant chronic conditions appear to have enduring implications for depressive symptoms in middle and later life.

scholarly journals Negative Marital Quality, Purpose in Life, and Depressive Symptoms Among Middle-Aged and Older Couples

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 498-498
Author(s):  
Elliane Irani ◽  
Sumin Park ◽  
Ronald Hickman
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
Marital Quality ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Purpose In Life ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Heterosexual Couples ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Older Couples ◽  
Sense Of Purpose

Abstract Negative marital quality is associated with poor health outcomes. Purpose in life can serve as a psychological resource to buffer the stressors experienced from a negative marital relationship. Yet, the associations among negative martial quality, a person’s level of purpose in life, and depressive symptoms have not been fully explored in a dyadic context. We examined the actor (intra-individual) and partner (cross-spousal) effects of negative marital quality on depressive symptoms in couples and the potential mediating role of purpose in life. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze cross-sectional data on middle-aged and older married, heterosexual couples (N=1,235) who participated in the 2016 wave of the Health and Retirement Study. The final model had an acceptable fit to the data (TLI=.963, RMSEA=.040, SRMR=.038). At the actor level, negative relationship quality was positively associated with depressive symptom severity, and purpose in life mediated the relationship in wives and husbands. At the partner level, wives had more depressive symptoms when husbands reported higher negative marital quality. Comparatively, husbands had less depressive symptoms when their wives indicated a greater sense of purpose. Husbands also had a lower purpose in life when their wives had higher states of negative marital quality. This study highlights the psychological benefits of allaying negative perceptions of marital quality and enhancing the sense of purpose in middle-aged and older couples. The results support a focus on dyadic approaches to improve the psychological health, and potentially, the physical health status of middle-aged and older couples.

scholarly journals Discordant Chronic Conditions and Depressive Symptoms: Longitudinal Associations Among Middle-Aged and Older Couples

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Courtney A Polenick ◽  
Kira S Birditt ◽  
Angela Turkelson ◽  
Benjamin C Bugajski ◽  
Helen C Kales
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Marital Quality ◽  
Chronic Conditions ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Older Couples ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Over Time

Abstract Objectives Individuals often manage chronic conditions in middle and later life that may diminish well-being. Little is known, however, about discordant conditions (i.e., two or more conditions with competing self-management requirements) among older couples and their links to depressive symptoms. We considered discordant conditions at both the individual level and the couple level (i.e., between spouses), along with their long-term implications for depressive symptoms. Methods The U.S. sample included 1,116 middle-aged and older couples drawn from five waves (2006–2014) of the Health and Retirement Study. Longitudinal actor-partner interdependence models evaluated whether individual-level and couple-level discordant chronic health conditions were concurrently linked to depressive symptoms, and whether these associations became stronger over time. Models controlled for age, minority status, education, prior wave depressive symptoms, and each partner’s baseline report of negative marital quality and number of chronic conditions in each wave. Results Wives and husbands reported significantly greater depressive symptoms when they had individual-level discordant conditions about 2 years after baseline, and these links intensified over time. Beyond this association, husbands had significantly greater depressive symptoms when there were couple-level discordant conditions. Discussion Individual-level and couple-level discordant conditions may have lasting implications for depressive symptoms during midlife and older adulthood.

scholarly journals Activity Limitations and Depressive Symptoms Among Older Couples: The Moderating Role of Spousal Care

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sae Hwang Han ◽  
Kyungmin Kim ◽  
Jeffrey A Burr
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Daily Living ◽  
Activity Limitations ◽  
Moderating Effects ◽  
Older Couples ◽  
Spousal Caregiving ◽  
Living Related ◽  
Moderating Role ◽  
Retirement Study

Abstract Objectives Limitations in performing basic daily activities, as well as spousal caregiving that arises from activity limitations, are important factors that have ramifications for mental health among couples. The objective of this study was to investigate the interplay of these factors by focusing on whether the associations between activity limitations and depressive symptoms among coupled-individuals were moderated by receipt and provision of spousal care. Methods Longitudinal household data from the Health and Retirement Study (2004–2014; dyad N = 6,614) were analyzed to estimate within-person associations between one’s own and spousal activity limitations, receipt and provision of spousal care, and depressive symptoms. Results Findings showed a consistent link between one’s own activity limitations and depressive symptoms for both spouses, whereas spousal activity limitations were associated with depressive symptoms for wives only. We also found moderating effects of spousal care in the link between one’s own and spousal activity limitations and depressive symptoms. Discussion Receipt and provision of activities of daily living-related assistance may contextualize the association between activity limitations and depressive symptoms among older coupled-individuals in a direction that could alleviate or aggravate the risk of depression.

scholarly journals Conflict and collaboration in middle-aged and older couples: I. Age differences in agency and communion during marital interaction.

2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy W. Smith ◽  
Cynthia A. Berg ◽  
Paul Florsheim ◽  
Bert N. Uchino ◽  
Gale Pearce ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Age Differences ◽  
Marital Interaction ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Older Couples ◽  
Agency And Communion

scholarly journals Genetic heterogeneity in depressive symptoms following the death of a spouse: Polygenic score analysis of the US Health and Retirement Study

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin W. Domingue ◽  
Hexuan Liu ◽  
Aysu Okbay ◽  
Daniel W. Belsky
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Life Stress ◽  
Genome Wide Association Study ◽  
The United States ◽  
Health And Retirement Study ◽  
Polygenic Score ◽  
Polygenic Scores ◽  
Retirement Study

AbstractExperience of stressful life events is associated with risk of depression. Yet many exposed individuals do not become depressed. A controversial hypothesis is that genetic factors influence vulnerability to depression following stress. This hypothesis is most commonly tested with a “diathesis-stress” model, in which genes confer excess vulnerability. We tested an alternative model, in which genes may buffer against the depressogenic effects of life stress. We measured the hypothesized genetic buffer using a polygenic score derived from a published genome-wide association study (GWAS) of subjective wellbeing. We tested if married older adults who had higher polygenic scores were less vulnerable to depressive symptoms following the death of their spouse as compared to age-peers who had also lost their spouse and who had lower polygenic scores. We analyzed data from N=9,453 non-Hispanic white adults in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a population-representative longitudinal study of older adults in the United States. HRS adults with higher wellbeing polygenic scores experienced fewer depressive symptoms during follow-up. Those who survived death of their spouses during follow-up (n=1,829) experienced a sharp increase in depressive symptoms following the death and returned toward baseline over the following two years. Having a higher polygenic score buffered against increased depressive symptoms following a spouse's death. Effects were small and clinical relevance is uncertain, although polygenic score analyses may provide clues to behavioral pathways that can serve as therapeutic targets. Future studies of gene-environment interplay in depression may benefit from focus on genetics discovered for putative protective factors.

Cognitive Performance Trajectories Before and After Sleep Treatment Initiation in Middle-Aged and Older Adults: Results from the Health and Retirement Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher N Kaufmann ◽  
Mark W Bondi ◽  
Wesley K Thompson ◽  
Adam P Spira ◽  
Sonia Ancoli-Israel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Sleep Disturbance ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Treatment Initiation ◽  
Health And Retirement Study ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Sleep Treatment ◽  
Retirement Study

Abstract BACKGROUND Sleep disturbances are associated with risk of cognitive decline but it is not clear if treating disturbed sleep mitigates decline. We examined differences in cognitive trajectories before and after sleep treatment initiation. METHODS Data came from the 2006-2014 Health and Retirement Study. At each of five waves, participants were administered cognitive assessments and scores were summed. Participants also reported if, in prior two weeks, they had taken medications or used other treatments to improve sleep. Our sample (N=3,957) included individuals who at HRS 2006 were >50 years, had no cognitive impairment, reported no sleep treatment, and indicated experiencing sleep disturbance. We identified differences between those receiving vs. not receiving treatment in subsequent waves, and among those treated (N=1,247), compared cognitive trajectories before and after treatment. RESULTS At baseline, those reporting sleep treatment at subsequent waves were more likely to be younger, female, Caucasian, to have more health conditions, to have higher BMI, and more depressive symptoms (all p’s≤0.015). Decline in cognitive performance was mitigated in periods after sleep treatment vs. periods before (B=-0.20, 95% CI=-0.25, -0.15, p<0.001; vs., B=-0.26, 95% CI=-0.32, -0.20, p<0.001), and this same trend was seen for self-initiated and doctor-recommended treatments. Trends were driven by those with higher baseline cognitive performance—those with lower performance saw cognitive declines following sleep treatment. CONCLUSIONS In middle-aged and older adults with sleep disturbance, starting sleep treatment may slow cognitive decline. Future research should assess types, combinations, and timing of treatments most effective in improving cognitive health in later life.

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