LATENT DYADIC CHANGE MODEL OF SPOUSAL SIMILARITY IN PHYSIOLOGICAL MARKERS OF AGING

Older adult populations are known for their diversity in health. Within couples, however, population studies have documented exceptional levels of spousal similarity in health and health behaviors. The presence of spousal similarity in health among older adults suggests a process of convergence, yet few studies have examined this phenomenon longitudinally. We present a latent dyadic change model to estimate the extent to which couples’ similarity in grip strength, Cystatin C, and lung function--indicators of frailty/physiologic reserve. The model is a longitudinal extension of the latent dyadic model, where husbands’ and wives’ markers of health are parsed into variance that is attributed to the couple and individual levels. Change in the biomarkers of aging is then estimated at the couple and individual levels, resulting in estimates of husbands’ change, wives’ change, and shared change. We illustrate our model using physiological data from the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative panel study of individuals aged 51+ in the United States (3,500+ eligible couples). At the individual level, grip strength and lung function decreased, whereas Cystatin C increased for both husbands and wives. The shared change parameter estimated 16% to 25% of the change in markers of aging existed at the couple level. This suggests, consistent with convergence, that similarities in markers of aging at T2 were due to shared processes of change. Shared processes held after adjusting for indicators of partner selection. The latent dyadic change model offers a methodology to examine change in couples’ shared processes over time.

The Nature and Nurture of HEXACO Personality Trait Differences

This study was designed to provide detailed estimates of genetic and environmental sources of variance in the HEXACO personality traits. For this purpose, we analyzed data from a German extended twin family study including 573 pairs of twins as well as 208 mothers, 119 fathers, 228 spouses, and 143 offspring of twins. All participants provided self-reports on the HEXACO-60. Extended twin family analyses using structural equation modeling (SEM) yielded that additive and nonadditive genetic influences accounted for about 50% of the variance in personality traits. The remaining variance was primarily due to individual-specific environmental sources and random measurement error. Spousal similarity in Openness was attributable to assortative mating, whereas spousal similarity in Honesty-Humility was attributable to environmental circumstances, partly due to a shared social background and spouse-specific effects. Our analyses yielded specifics for different personality traits. However, transmission of trait similarity from one generation to the next was primarily genetic.

Spousal Concordance in Telomere Length: New Evidence from Older Adults in the US

Telomere length (TL) has been associated with a range of aging outcomes as well as mortality. Recent research has shown both high heritability (∼70 %) of TL as well as moderate spousal similarity (r∼.3) using European datasets. This paper explores the level of spousal concordance in telomere length in the Health and Retirement Study, a national sample of adults in the US. The results both show that the spousal similarity in TL is lower in the US and also varies by the length of time spouses have been married as well as the educational attainments of husbands. These findings suggest the possibility of both assortative mating patterns related to telomere length as well as likelihood of shared environmental factors that cause similarity in TL in people who are socially connected.

Relationship Satisfaction and Similarity of Personality Traits, Personal Values, and Attitudes

Spousal similarity and its consequences are widely studied, but methodologically challenging topics. We employed Response Surface Analysis to examine similarity along political attitudes, personal values, and personality traits. Opposite-sex couples (624 individuals) expecting a child were recruited. Spouses were highly similar regarding their political attitudes and moderately similar regarding trait Openness and the personal values Universalism and Tradition. Similarity for other traits and values was weak (e.g. Conscientiousness, Power values) or non-existent (e.g. Neuroticism, Benevolence values). Similarity in conservative vs. liberal attitudes was non-linear: a conservative-conservative union was most common. Women’s relationship satisfaction was related to similarity in left-right and liberal-conservative political attitudes, and both partners’ satisfaction was related to similarity in Self-Direction values. Similarity in personality traits was unrelated to relationship satisfaction.