Title | Later Life Marital Dissolution and Repartnership Status: A National Portrait. |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2018 |
Authors | Brown, SL, Lin, I-F, Hammersmith, AM, Wright, MR |
Journal | J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci |
Volume | 73 |
Issue | 6 |
Pagination | 1032-1042 |
Date Published | 2018 Aug 14 |
ISSN Number | 1758-5368 |
Keywords | Age Factors, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Divorce, Female, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Marriage, Middle Aged, Socioeconomic factors, Spouses, United States, Widowhood |
Abstract | OBJECTIVES: Our study compares two types of later life marital dissolution that occur after age 50-divorce and widowhood-and their associations with repartnership status (i.e., remarried, cohabiting, or unpartnered). METHOD: We used data from the Health and Retirement Study to provide a portrait of later life divorce and widowhood for women and men. Next, we tested whether marital dissolution type is related to women's and men's repartnered status, distinguishing among remarrieds, cohabitors, and unpartnereds, net of key sociodemographic indicators. RESULTS: Divorcees are more often repartnered through either remarriage or cohabitation than are widoweds. This gap persists among women net of an array of sociodemographic factors. For men, the differential is reduced to nonsignificance with the inclusion of these factors. DISCUSSION: Later life marital dissolution increasingly occurs through divorce rather than widowhood, and divorce is more often followed by repartnership. The results from this study suggest that gerontological research should not solely focus on widowhood but also should pay attention to divorce and repartnering during later life. |
URL | http://psychsocgerontology.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/04/29/geronb.gbw051.abstract |
DOI | 10.1093/geronb/gbw051 |
User Guide Notes | |
Endnote Keywords | Cohabitation/Divorce/Marriage/Remarriage/Widowhood |
Endnote ID | 999999 |
Alternate Journal | J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci |
Citation Key | 6515 |
PubMed ID | 27131167 |
PubMed Central ID | PMC6093496 |
Grant List | P2C HD050959 / HD / NICHD NIH HHS / United States R15 AG047588 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States R24 HD050959 / HD / NICHD NIH HHS / United States |