%0 Journal Article %J Journal of Applied Gerontology %D 2023 %T Marital Quality and Alcohol Use among Couples in Mid- and Later-Life. %A Bulanda, Jennifer Roebuck %A Curl, Angela L %A Roberts, Amy Restorick %K actor-partner interdependence model %K Drinking %K Marriage %K relationship satisfaction %X

Spouses influence one another's drinking behavior, but little research has explored how relationship quality may impact older couples' alcohol use. Using data from the 2014-2018 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and actor-partner interdependence models, we examined how marital quality is related to total alcohol consumption and risk of heavy drinking for married couples over age 50. Neither husbands' nor wives' perceptions of negative marital quality were related to changes in heavy drinking or number of drinks consumed over the observation period. However, wives' positive marital quality was associated with increased risk of heavy alcohol use for both wives and husbands, and with an increase in the number of drinks wives consume over time. Couples over age 50 do not appear to use alcohol as a way of coping with negative marital relationships, but rather may increase their drinking in the context of positive relationships.

%B Journal of Applied Gerontology %V 42 %P 1068-1077 %G eng %N 5 %R 10.1177/07334648221143305 %0 Journal Article %J The Journals of Gerontology, Series B %D 2022 %T Advance Directives Completion among Older American Couples: A Dyadic Perspective on the Role of Cognitive Function and Other Factors. %A Lu, Peiyi %A Kong, Dexia %A Lee, Jeongeun %A Shelley, Mack %K actor-partner interdependence model %K advance directive %K Couples %K dyadic analysis %X

OBJECTIVE: Dyadic perspective is scarce in existing advance directive (AD) literature. Particularly, the significance of one's own and/or one's partner's cognitive function on AD remains unknown. This study investigates the relationship of cognitive function and other factors with AD completion within the spousal context.

METHODS: Data from the Health and Retirement Study (2014-2015) were used. Older heterosexual couples (age ≥65) married for 10+ years were asked if they had a living will and/or appointed a durable power of attorney for healthcare (DPAHC). Structural Equation Models examined the actor and partner effects of sociodemographic, health, and couple-level characteristics on wife's and husband's AD, respectively.

RESULTS: Moderate spousal interdependence was observed in living will (Kappa coefficient, k =0.60) and DPAHC (k=0.53). Older age and higher education were related to both spouses having AD. Less household wealth and being racial/ethnic minority were associated with a lower probability of having AD. Notable gender contrasts in actor and partner effects were found. Wife's higher level of cognitive function was associated with husband's AD completion. Contrarily, husband's lower level of cognitive function was associated with wife's AD completion. Retirement status had primarily actor effects for both husbands and wives. More chronic conditions were linked to husband's AD completion.

DISCUSSION: The spousal interdependence of AD warrants practitioner efforts to facilitate family-oriented end-of-life planning. Wives and husbands may have different thoughts regarding their spouse's cognitive capacity to surrogate. Facilitating couple-based discussions may be a feasible approach to promote engagement with AD among older adults.

%B The Journals of Gerontology, Series B %V 77 %P 1144-1153 %G eng %N 6 %R 10.1093/geronb/gbab077 %0 Journal Article %J Collabra: Psychology %D 2022 %T Dyadic Associations Between Conscientiousness Facets, Health, and Health Behavior Over Time %A Chopik, William %A Lee, Ji Hyun %K actor-partner interdependence model %K Conscientiousness %K depression %K health %K personality facets %X Previous studies show consistent associations between conscientiousness and health outcomes. However, less is known about how various facets of conscientiousness, of both individuals and their partners, are associated with changes in health in older adults over time. Applying the actor–partner interdependence model, we examined dyadic associations of broader conscientiousness and its six facets and changes in health, health behavior, and well-being in middle-aged and older couples. With a sample of 3,271 couples (N=6,542) from the Health and Retirement Study, we found that actor conscientiousness, orderliness, and industriousness were most reliably associated with better health outcomes over time. Partner orderliness was associated with better health and more positive health behavior. The remaining associations were near-zero in their effect sizes. Many of these associations persisted over the 10-year period of the study, and there was little evidence for gender differences or multiplicative interactions. %B Collabra: Psychology %V 8 %P 37611 %G eng %N 1 %R 10.1525/collabra.37611 %0 Journal Article %J Computers in Human Behavior %D 2022 %T Partner influences on ICT use variety among middle-aged and older adults: The role of need for cognition %A William J. Chopik %A Jess Francis %K actor-partner interdependence model %K Cognition %K Dyadic influence %K Unified theory of acceptance and use of technology %X This exploratory study examined individual and dyadic predictors of variety of ICT use. Need for cognition is associated with engaging in a variety of intellectually stimulating practices and a prominent individual difference predictor of the types of ICTs people use. Participants were a subset of 542 heterosexual couples (N = 1084 individuals; 50% women; Mage = 63.65; 83.9% Caucasian) from the Health and Retirement Study with access to the internet. Individuals high in need for cognition were more likely to use ICTs for a variety of reasons. Being married to someone high in need for cognition was associated with a greater variety of ICT ownership, use of ICTs for financial/transactional activities, and use of ICTs for miscellaneous reasons (e.g., research), although these effects were relatively small and the evidence for partner effects was relatively weak according to the distribution of p-values. Partner effects were not significant for social technology or internet-enabling ICTs; cross-partner interactions provided suggestive evidence for compensatory partner effects of need for cognition. Findings are discussed with respect to the relational and contextual determinants of ICT use in older adulthood. %B Computers in Human Behavior %V 126 %P 107028 %G eng %R 10.1016/j.chb.2021.107028 %0 Journal Article %J Journal of Personality %D 2020 %T The Association between Actor/Partner Optimism and Cognitive Functioning among Older Couples %A Oh, Jeewon %A William J. Chopik %A Eric S Kim %K actor-partner interdependence model %K cognitive functioning %K Health and Retirement Study %K Optimism %X Objective Higher optimism has been linked with health, well‐being, and cognitive functioning. Spouses also play an important role on people's health, especially in older adulthood. Yet, whether a spouse's optimism is associated with an individual's cognitive functioning is understudied. Thus, we examined this question. Method Participants were 4,457 heterosexual couples (N = 8,914; Mage = 66.73, SD = 9.67) from the Health and Retirement Study—a large, diverse, prospective, and nationally representative sample of U.S. adults aged > 50. Optimism was assessed at baseline (t1) and cognition was measured every two years with up to five repeated assessments of cognition data over the eight‐year follow‐up period (t1; t2; t3; t4; t5). Results Results from multi‐level dyadic data analyses showed small but positive associations between actor optimism and actor cognitive functioning (memory: r = 0.16, mental status =0.10), as well as partner optimism and actor cognitive functioning (memory: r = 0.04, mental status = 0.03). These associations mostly persisted over time. Conclusions Possessing higher optimism, and also having a partner with higher optimism, were both associated with higher cognitive functioning. Thus, with further research, optimism (at both the individual and couple level) might emerge as an innovative intervention target that helps adults maintain cognitive functioning as they age. %B Journal of Personality %V 88 %P 822-832 %G eng %N 4 %R 10.1111/jopy.12529 %0 Journal Article %J Annals of Behavioral Medicine: a Publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine %D 2020 %T Dyadic Associations Between Body Mass Index and the Development of Type 2 Diabetes in Romantic Couples: Results From the Health and Retirement Study %A Burns, Rachel J %K actor-partner interdependence model %K Body Mass Index %K dyads %K type 2 diabetes %X Body mass index (BMI) is linked to Type 2 diabetes (T2D). Although romantic partners influence each other's health outcomes, it is unclear if partner's BMI is related to the development of T2D.To test prospective, dyadic associations between BMI and the development of T2D in middle-aged and older adult couples over 8 years.Data came from 950 couples in the Health and Retirement Study. Neither partner had diabetes at baseline (2006). The actor–partner interdependence model was used to examine dyadic associations between BMI at baseline and the development of T2D during the next 8 years.After adjusting for covariates, a significant actor effect was observed such that one's BMI at baseline was positively associated with one's own odds of developing T2D during follow-up (odds ratio [OR] = 1.08, p \< .001). A significant partner effect was also observed such that the BMI of one's partner at baseline was positively associated with one's own odds of developing T2D during follow-up above and beyond one's own baseline BMI (OR = 1.0 %B Annals of Behavioral Medicine: a Publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine %V 54 %P 291-296 %G eng %N 4 %9 Journal %R 10.1093/abm/kaz042