A dyadic study of depression, capitalization patterns, and leisure activities in retirement

Late-life relationships, and specifically spousal relations, are increasingly recognized as an important factor shaping the wellbeing, health, social and emotional health of older people. Therefore, a better understanding of the health and well-being trajectories of older adults requires considering the characteristics of their spouses and couple dynamics. This study focused on the actual problem of engagement of recently retired older adults in the community and various leisure activities and examined how both older adults' and spouses’ depression level influence their activities. We also consider the quality of relationships in a couple: how a partner generally responds when the participant discloses good news (capitalization). Fifty-three Israeli couples participated in the current study with one member of the couple 60 or older and retired within the last five years. Recently retired spouses rated their engagement in leisure activities, both spouses reported their level of depression, and partners of retired persons completed the Perceived Responses to Capitalization Attempts Scale. Results show that depression level of recently retired spouses had a direct negative effect (b(SE)=-7.8(3.38), CI(-14.65,-1.04), p=0.02) on their engagement in leisure activities, while the level of their partners' depression had no significant direct effect on retired persons' leisure activities. However, partners’ depression associated (p=0.001) with negative capitalization patterns and mediation analysis showed an indirect effect of partners’ depression via the capitalization (b(SE)=-2.77(1.7), CI(-6.41,-0.04), p=0.03). These results indicate that in encouraging newly retired people to participate in leisure activities it is important to consider both spouses' depression level and capitalization patterns in the couple.

Spatial proximity as a behavioral marker of relationship dynamics in older adult couples

Background: Close relationships in older adulthood are characterized by heightened interdependence, which has implications for health and well-being as partners age together. Purpose: We describe a novel method that uses partners’ spatial proximity to examine the dynamics of interpersonal relationships. Research Design: In a sample of 10 older adult couples over a 14-day study period, we linked a continuous measure of partners’ spatial proximity with partners’ heart rates—a physiological marker of arousal. Results: Cross-correlations showed that proximity was consistently associated with each partner’s heart rate, but the magnitude and sequence of the correlation varied from day-to-day, suggesting that the coupling of proximity and heart rate is a dynamic of the interaction, rather than the couple. Additionally, our predictive model showed that all three time-series were necessary for optimal prediction, demonstrating that proximity and partners’ heart rates are dynamically intertwined. Conclusion: Together, these results demonstrate meaningful and predictable variation in couple dynamics at the momentary level that consists of a complex association between physiological and spatial proximity.

A brief psychodynamic intervention for couples with unresolved grief: a case study report

Two case reports of couples with unresolved grief who received a short-term psychoanalytically oriented intervention for couples are presented. The sixteenweek intervention is based on the unresolved grief triad (UGT) which links empirically based predictors of prolonged or complicated grief, including a history of unmourned losses and couple dynamics that prevent mourning, to couple manifestations of unresolved loss. In the first and second phases of therapy, experienced analytic couple therapists identified these factors and linked them into a unique UGT for the couple which is made explicit and worked with in the middle phase of treatment in relation to the day-to-day experiences that they bring to the sessions. In the final (third) phase of the intervention the loss of the therapy and therapist constitutes links that have been identified and processed with the couple during the intervention. The two case studies presented shared important similarities that offer insights into how couples become mired in unresolved grief. Their successful treatment using a short-term psychoanalytically based couple therapy suggests that the underpinning model on which it is based may be cost-effective in treating unresolved grief in couples.

Couple Dynamics and Child Abuse: An Interaction Process Analysis

Most research on child abuse has been based on clinical studies, self-reports, survey data, or official records. This paper reports on behavioral research. A group of couples where child abuse had occurred were compared with a matched comparison group of nonabusing couples. All couples were interviewed in their homes where they completed an exercise involving a discussion of opinion differences. The discussion was taped and then coded on system variables. The focus was on the relationship between the health of the couples and the abuse of children. Variables included couples’ overall health, depression, and symbiosis. The opposite of a symbiotic relationship is an individuated relationship. An individuated relationship involves clear interpersonal boundaries, meaning that differences between individuals’ ideas and opinions are respected. A distinction between symbiosis and affection was also highlighted. Symbiosis was predicted to be associated with abuse. Affection was predicted not to be associated with abuse. Results were that couples with an abused child and comparison group couples differed significantly. The couples who had an abused child were less healthy overall and had higher levels of depression. They also demonstrated relatively higher levels of symbiosis (lower levels of individuation). As predicted, affection did not differentiate the two groups. Neither did the amount of conflict. Suggestions for therapeutic work with abusing couples were presented.

Within-Couple Associations Between Communication and Relationship Satisfaction Over Time

Relationship science contends that the quality of couples’ communication predicts relationship satisfaction over time. Most studies testing these links have examined between-person associations, yet couple dynamics are also theorized at the within-person level: For a given couple, worsened communication is presumed to predict deteriorations in future relationship satisfaction. We examined within-couple associations between satisfaction and communication in three longitudinal studies. Across studies, there were some lagged within-person links between deviations in negative communication to future changes in satisfaction (and vice versa). But the most robust finding was for concurrent within-person associations between negative communication and satisfaction: At times when couples experienced less negative communication than usual, they were also more satisfied with their relationship than was typical. Positive communication was rarely associated with relationship satisfaction at the within-person level. These findings indicate that within-person changes in negative communication primarily covary with, rather than predict, relationship satisfaction.

Men, the Missing Link in Gender-equitable Family Planning

Background: Across societies, gender norms often allow men to hold key decision-making power within relationships, households and communities. This extends to almost all domains, consisting of family planning (FP) as well. FP programmes have largely engaged men as clients and rarely as equal partners or influencers although across lower and middle income countries (LMICs), and especially in South Asia, men hold key decision-making power on the domain of family planning. The objective of this article is to explore couple dynamics through the lens of spousal communication and decision-making and unpacking male engagement and spousal dynamics in family planning.Methods: This review presents a synthesis of evidence from two peer-reviewed databases, PubMed and Jstor, and and insights from programmatic documents to shed light on gender equitable engagement of young married men in family planning. Inclusion and exclusion criteria for both these databases was set and search strategies were finalized. This was followed by title and abstract screening, data extraction, synthesis and analysis.Results: Study participants included unmarried men (16%, n= 8), married men (19%, n= 9), married women (19%, n=9), married couples (25%, n =12) or more than two respondent categories (21%, n= 10). Almost three-fourth (71%, n=34) of the studies selected had FP as the primary area of inquiry. Other prominent thematics on which the studies reported were around norms (n=9, 16%), couple dynamics and intimacies (n=12, 22%).Conclusion: The evidence presented provides sufficient impetus to expand on gender-equitable male engagement, viewing men as equal and supportive partners for informed, equitable and collaborative contraceptive uptake and FP choices by couples.

Family planning science and practice lessons from the 2018 International Conference on Family Planning

Background Since 2009, the International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP) has served as an opportunity for the global reproductive health community to share FP advances and practice lessons in the areas of research, programming, and advocacy. The purpose of this paper was to synthesize the key results and findings presented by members of the FP community at the 2018 ICFP Conference. Methods More than 700 abstracts from all 15 conference tracks were reviewed and 64 abstracts total were selected for this paper based on the novelty and urgency of the findings. The content analysis of conference abstracts were grouped into six final thematic areas. Results 1) Investing in family planning for a lifetime of returns. FP continues to face a shortage of funding. Domestically based and locally owned funding models provide alternative financing solutions. 2) Addressing inequities in family planning for key populations. Various populations still face challenges in accessing FP. Youth-inclusive and user-centered programming show promise in addressing such challenges. 3) Reproductive justice, Unsafe abortions tend to be more common among younger, poor, uneducated and rural women. Legislation is still needed to facilitate a culture of safe abortions. 4) Couple dynamics and decision-making. Couples who share equitable responsibility in decision-making processes are more likely to use contraceptives; couple disagreement influences women’s decisions to covertly use FP. 5) Male involvement in programming. Male champions can successfully promote uptake of FP. Gender-transformative programming promotes gender equity and impacts behavior change. 6) Breakthroughs in novel contraceptives and systems improvement in family planning. Recent advances include user-centered contraceptive technologies that allow for self-administration and information systems which optimize supply chain management. Conclusion The research, advocacy, and programmatic abstracts at ICFP 2018 highlighted research advances, showcased implementation science wins, and provided evidence of critical knowledge gaps in global FP access and use

Political context is associated with extent of everyday physiological synchrony in older couples

Social units such as couples exist within a broader societal and cultural context. Characteristics of this macro-level context may indirectly shape couple dynamics by influencing opportunities and motivation for interdependence, e.g. through legislation and prevalent norms/values. The current study investigates the association between political context (left-right political spectrum) and physiological linkage (cortisol synchrony) in older couples’ daily lives. Older adult couples (N = 162) aged 56 to 89 years (M age = 72.3 years) and residing in Germany provided salivary cortisol samples 7 times daily for a 7-day period. Political context in which dyads lived was quantified with respect to where the federal state of residence was located on the left-right political spectrum using voting data from the 2017 federal election. Links between macro-context and extent of cortisol synchrony were examined using multilevel models, controlling for differences in diurnal rhythm, sex, age, body mass index, and individual-level political orientation. On average, there was evidence of synchrony in fluctuations in partners’ cortisol (b = 0.08, SE = 0.02, p < .001). The extent of cortisol synchrony was moderated by macro-context, such that couples living in a federal state placed further right on the left-right political spectrum exhibited greater cortisol synchrony (b = 0.03, SE = 0.01, p = .010). This new evidence provides a foundation for theorizing about and investigating how specific mechanisms contributing to political context, including family values, gender role attitudes, and laws supporting gender equality contribute to interpersonal linkages of physiological stress responses in daily life.

Papyri to the rescue: reconstructing Hellenistic male-female couple relationships through papyrological documentation

The relationships of ordinary male-female couples in Antiquity remain a field of research still little explored, especially regarding the study of feelings, emotions, real-life experiences, and couple dynamics through everyday life. Thus, it is essential to look into this theme, both in the Greek and Roman worlds, in a diachronic and synchronic perspective; this is the purpose of a Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) project at the University of Lausanne, entitled “Couple relationships in Antiquity”. My PhD thesis, as part of this project, intends to explore couple relationships during the Hellenistic period, in Greece, Asia Minor, and Ptolemaic Egypt, through literary, epigraphic, and papyrological documentation. In this context, Greek papyri provide notable elements, that can complement and counteract the data issued from literary sources and inscriptions whose one of the biases is to present an idealized or incomplete vision of couples’ relationships; nevertheless, we must keep in mind that papyri suffer from their own specific biases.My aim in this paper is to show how possible it is to integrate different types of papyri – letters, marriage contracts, wills, complaints, etc – as part of a study on couples’ real-life experience, while identifying some of the key methodological aspects necessary for this type of analysis, by presenting excerpts from several documents. Furthermore, the addition of an adequate methodological canvas allows going beyond the cultural and/or typological filters and biases inherent to this type of documentation, and its inclusion in the global corpus of my thesis, in which most documents are from the ‘classical’ Greek world.