Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T19:57:05.418Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The health and relationship dynamics of late-life couples: a systematic review of the literature

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 March 2009

RUTH B. WALKER  and
MARY A. LUSZCZ
RUTH B. WALKER*
Affiliation:
School of Psychology and Flinders Centre for Ageing Studies, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia.
MARY A. LUSZCZ
Affiliation:
School of Psychology and Flinders Centre for Ageing Studies, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia.
*
Address for correspondence: Ruth B. Walker, School of Psychology, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide 5001, South Australia. E-mail: ruth.walker@flinders.edu.au
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Late-life husband and wife relationships are increasingly recognised as an important factor in promoting wellbeing, particularly in terms of the health, social, emotional, financial and practical needs of older people. Knowledge of marital dynamics and how they affect both members of a couple remains scarce. This systematic review aimed to identify and appraise research that has focused explicitly on the dynamics of the relationship, as evinced by data from both spouses. Implementing rigorous identification strategies, 45 articles were identified and reviewed. These studies were grouped into three broad thematic areas: marital relations and satisfaction; concordance in emotional state or physical health; and the interplay between marital quality and wellbeing. The issues found to affect marital relations and satisfaction in late life included equality of roles, having adequate communication, and transitions to living apart. There is strong evidence for couple concordance in depression, that marital relationships affect ill-health, longevity and recovery from illness, and reciprocally that ill-health impacts on the marriage itself. The research also suggests important gender differences in the impact of marital dynamics on health. It has led to the conclusion that there is a need for more diverse studies of late-life marriages, particularly ones that examine the dynamics of non-traditional elderly couples and that extend beyond a predominant focus on the Caucasian population of the United States.

Keywords

coupleselderlymarriagemental healthphysical healthsystematic review
Type
Research Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 29 , Issue 3 , April 2009 , pp. 455 - 480
Copyright
Copyright © 2009 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Acitelli, L. K. and Antonucci, T. C. 1994. Gender differences in the link between marital support and satisfaction in older couples. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 4, 688–98.Google Scholar
Adams, K. B. 2006. The transition to caregiving: the experience of family members embarking on the dementia caregiving career. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 47, 3/4, 3–29.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ahn, T. and Kim, K. 2007. Mutual caring of elderly Korean couples. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 18, 1, 28–34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Anderson, T. B., Earle, J. R. and Longino, C. F. Jr 1997. The therapeutic role in later life: husbands, wives and couples. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 45, 1, 49–65.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Askham, J. 1995. The married lives of older people. In Arber, S. and Ginn, J. (eds), Connecting Gender and Ageing: A Sociological Approach. Open University Press, Buckingham, UK, 87–97.Google Scholar
Atchley, R. C. 1989. A continuity theory of normal aging. The Gerontologist, 29, 2, 183–90.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barnett, R., Marshall, N., Raudenush, S. and Brennan, R. 1993. Gender and the relationship between job experiences and psychological distress: a study of dual-earner couples. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, 5, 794–806.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Birgersson, A. M. and Edberg, A. K. 2004. Being in the light or in the shade: persons with Parkinson's disease and their partners' experience of support. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 41, 6, 621–30.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bookwala, J. and Schulz, R. 1996. Spousal similarity in subjective wellbeing: the Cardiovascular Health Study. Psychology and Aging, 11, 4, 582–90.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carstensen, L. L. 1992. Social and emotional patterns in adulthood: support for socioemotional selectivity theory. Psychology and Aging, 7, 3, 331–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cooney, T. M. and Dunne, K. 2001. Intimate relationships in later life. Journal of Family Issues, 22, 7, 838–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Druley, J. A., Stephens, M. A., Martire, L. M., Ennis, N. and Wojno, W. C. 2003. Emotional congruence in older couples coping with wives' osteoarthritis: exacerbating effects of pain behavior. Psychology and Aging, 18, 3, 406–14.Google Scholar
Ducharme, F. 1997. Conjugal support, coping behaviours and mental health of elderly couples: a three-wave longitudinal panel study. Health Care in Later Life, 2, 3, 155–65.Google Scholar
Dufouil, C. and Alperovitch, A. 2000. Couple similarities for cognitive functions and psychological health. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 53, 6, 589–93.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dunkin, J. J. and Anderson-Hanley, C. 1998. Dementia caregiver burden: a review of the literature and guidelines for assessment and intervention. Neurology, 51, 1 supplement, S53–60.Google Scholar
Eagly, A. H. and Johannesen-Schmidt, M. C. 2001. The leadership styles of women and men. Journal of Social Issues, 57, 4, 781–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eloniemi-Sulkava, U., Notkola, I. L., Hamalainen, K., Rahkonen, T., Viramo, P., Hentinen, M., Kivela, S. L. and Sulkava, R. 2002. Spouse caregivers' perceptions of influence of dementia on marriage. International Psychogeriatrics, 14, 1, 47–58.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gladstone, J. W. 1995. The marital perceptions of elderly persons living or having a spouse living in a long-term care institution in Canada. The Gerontologist, 35, 1, 52–60.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goodman, C. R. and Shippy, R. A. 2002. Is it contagious? Affect similarity among spouses. Aging and Mental Health, 6, 3, 266–74.Google Scholar
Hagedoorn, M., Sanderson, R., Ranchor, A. V., Brilman, E. I., Kempen, G. I. and Ormel, J. 2001. Chronic disease in elderly couples: are women more responsive to their spouses' health condition than men? Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 51, 5, 693–96.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harden, J. K., Northouse, L. L. and Mood, D. W. 2006. Qualitative analysis of couples' experience with prostate cancer by age cohort. Cancer Nursing, 29, 5, 367–77.Google Scholar
Heaphy, B., Yip, A. K. T. and Thompson, D. 2004. Ageing in a non-heterosexual context. Ageing & Society, 24, 6, 881–902.Google Scholar
Hellstrom, I., Nolan, M. and Lundh, U. 2005. Awareness context theory and the dynamics of dementia: improving understanding using emergent fit. Dementia, 4, 2, 269–95.Google Scholar
Henry, R. G., Miller, R. B. and Giarrusso, R. 2005. Difficulties, disagreements, and disappointments in late-life marriages. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 61, 3, 243–64.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hoppmann, C. A., Gerstorf, D. and Luszcz, M. A. 2008. Spousal activity trajectories in the Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing in the context of cognitive, physical and affective resources. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 63B, 1, P41–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jerrome, D. 1993. Intimate relationships. In Bond, J., Coleman, P. and Peace, S. (eds), Ageing in Society. Sage, London, 226–54.Google Scholar
Kaplan, L., Ade-Ridder, L., Hennon, C. B., Brubaker, E. and Brubaker, T. 1995. Preliminary typology of couplehood for community-dwelling wives: ‘I’ versus ‘we’. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 40, 4, 317–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keith, P. M., Schafer, R. B. and Wacker, R. 1992. Outcomes of equity/inequity among older spouses. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 36, 3, 187–97.Google Scholar
Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K. and Newton, T. L. 2001. Marriage and health: his and hers. Psychological Bulletin, 127, 4, 472–503.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kivela, S.-L., Luukinen, H., Viramo, P. and Koski, K. 1998. Depression and couples: depression in elderly spouse pairs. International Psychogeriatrics, 10, 3, 329–38.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kulik, L. 2002. Marital equality and the quality of long-term marriage in later life. Ageing & Society, 22, 4, 459–81.Google Scholar
Lauer, R. H., Lauer, J. C. and Kerr, S. T. 1990. The long-term marriage: perceptions of stability and satisfaction. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 31, 3, 189–95.Google Scholar
Layman, D. E., Dijkers, M. P. and Ashman, T. A. 2005. Exploring the impact of traumatic brain injury on the older couple: ‘yes, but how much of it is age, I can't tell you’. Brain Injury, 19, 11, 909–23.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lundh, U., Sandberg, J. and Nolan, M. 2000. ‘I don't have any other choice’: spouses' experiences of placing a partner in a care home for older people in Sweden. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 32, 5, 1178–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manzoli, L., Villari, P., Pirone, G. M. and Boccia, A. 2007. Marital status and mortality in the elderly: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Social Science and Medicine, 64, 1, 77–94.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Martire, L. M., Keefe, F. J., Schulz, R., Ready, R., Beach, S. R., Rudy, T. R. and Starz, T. W. 2006. Older spouses' perceptions of partners' chronic arthritis pain: implications for spousal responses, support provision and caregiving experiences. Psychology and Aging, 21, 2, 222–30.Google Scholar
Matras, J. and Caiden, M. 1994. Effect of spouses' characteristics on the social roles and activities of married elderly persons in Israel. Ageing & Society, 14, 4, 537–73.Google Scholar
McArdle, J. J. and Hamagami, F. 2001. Latent difference score structural models for linear dynamic analyses with incomplete longitudinal data. In Collins, L. M. and Sayer, A. G. (eds), New Methods for the Analysis of Change. American Psychological Association, Washington DC, 137–76.Google Scholar
Meyler, D., Stimpson, J. P. and Peek, M. K. 2007. Health concordance within couples: a systematic review. Social Science and Medicine, 64, 11, 2297–310.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miller, B., Townsend, A. L. and Ishler, K. J. 2004. Change in marital dissatisfaction, health and depression in older married couples. Journal of Mental Health and Aging, 10, 1, 65–77.Google Scholar
Padula, C. A. and Sullivan, M. 2006. Long-term married couples' health promotion behaviors: identifying factors that impact decision-making. Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 32, 10, 37–47.Google ScholarPubMed
Peek, M., Stimpson, J., Townsend, A. and Markides, K. 2006. Well-being in older Mexican American spouses. The Gerontologist, 46, 22, 258–65.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Peek, M. K. and Markides, K. S. 2003. Blood pressure concordance in older married Mexican-American couples. Journal of the American Geriatric Society, 51, 11, 1655–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Phillipson, C., Bernard, M., Phillips, J. and Ogg, J. 1999. Older people's experiences of community life: patterns of neighbouring in three urban areas. Sociological Review, 47, 4, 715–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quirouette, C. and Gold, D. P. 1992. Spousal characteristics as predictors of well-being in older couples. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 34, 4, 257–69.Google Scholar
Racher, F. E. 2002. Synergism of frail rural elderly couples: influencing interdependent independence. Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 28, 6, 32–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ray, M. 2000. Older women, long-term marriage and care. In Bernard, M., Phillips, J., Machin, L. and Harding, V. (eds), Women Ageing: Changing Identities, Challenging Myths. Routledge, London, 148–67.Google Scholar
Roberto, K. A., Gold, D. T. and Yorgason, J. B. 2004. The influence of osteoporosis on the marital relationship of older couples. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 23, 4, 443–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, L., Clare, L. and Evans, K. 2005. Making sense of dementia and adjusting to loss: psychological reactions to a diagnosis of dementia in couples. Aging and Mental Health, 9, 4, 337–47.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sandberg, J. and Harper, J. M. 2000. In search of a marital distress model of depression in older marriages. Aging and Mental Health, 4, 3, 210–22.Google Scholar
Sandberg, J., Lundh, U. and Nolan, M. R. 2001. Placing a spouse in a care home: the importance of keeping. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 10, 3, 406–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scanzoni, J. and Litton Fox, G. 1980. Sex roles, family and society: the seventies and beyond. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 42, 4, 743–56.Google Scholar
Seltzer, M. M. and Li, L. W. 2000. The dynamics of caregiving: transitions during a three-year prospective study. The Gerontologist, 40, 2, 165–78.Google Scholar
Skarupski, K. A., de Leon, C. F., McCann, J. J., Bienias, J. L., Wilson, R. S. and Evans, D. A. 2006. Is lower cognitive function in one spouse associated with depressive symptoms in the other spouse? Aging and Mental Health, 10, 6, 621–30.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stimpson, J. P. and Peek, M. K. 2005. Concordance of chronic conditions in older Mexican American couples. Preventing Chronic Disease: Public Health Research, Practice and Policy, 2, 3, 1–7.Google ScholarPubMed
Stimpson, J. P., Masel, M. C., Rudkin, L. and Peek, M. K. 2006. Shared health behaviors among older Mexican American spouses. American Journal of Health Behavior, 30, 5, 495–502.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stimpson, J. P., Peek, M. K. and Markides, K. S. 2006. Depression and mental health among older Mexican American spouses. Aging and Mental Health, 10, 4, 386–93.Google Scholar
Torti, F. M. Jr, Gwyther, L. P., Reed, S. D., Friedman, J. Y. and Schulman, K. A. 2004. A multinational review of recent trends and reports in dementia caregiver burden. Alzheimer's Disease and Associated Disorders, 18, 2, 99–109.Google Scholar
Tower, R. B. and Kasl, S. V. 1995. Depressive symptoms across older spouses and the moderating effect of marital closeness. Psychology and Aging, 10, 4, 625–38.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tower, R. B. and Kasl, S. 1996 a. Depressive symptoms across older spouses: longitudinal influences. Psychology and Aging, 11, 4, 683–97.Google Scholar
Tower, R. B. and Kasl, S. V. 1996 b. Gender, marital closeness, and depressive symptoms in elderly couples. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 51, 3, P115–29.Google Scholar
Tower, R. B., Kasl, S. and Moritz, D. J. 1997. The influence of spouse cognitive impairment on respondents depressive symptoms: the moderating role of marital closeness. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 52, 5, S270–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tower, R. B., Kasl, S. and Darefsky, A. S. 2002. Types of marital closeness and mortality risk in older couples. Psychosomatic Medicine, 64, 4, 644–59.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Townsend, A. L., Miller, B. and Guo, S. 2001. Depressive symptomatology in middle-aged and older married couples: a dyadic approach. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 56, 6, S352–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Doorn, C. 1998. Spouse-rated limitations and spouse-rated life expectancy as mortality predictors. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 53, 3, S137–43.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Walker, A. J., Pratt, C. C. and Eddy, L. 1995. Informal caregiving to aging family members: a critical review. Family Relations, 44, 4, 402–11.Google Scholar
Whisman, M. A., Uebelacker, L. A., Tolejko, N., Chatav, Y. and McKelvie, M. 2006. Marital discord and well-being in older adults: is the association confounded by personality? Psychology and Aging, 21, 3, 626–31.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed