Mental and physical health consequences of spousal health shocks among older adults

OBJECTIVE: To examine how the experience of a negative health event (i.e., onset of heart disease, diabetes, lung disease, cancer, or stroke) of one spouse affects the mental and physical well-being of the other partner as measured by depressive symptoms and self-reported health. METHODS: We employ latent growth curve analysis and examine adults 50 using six waves of data (1998-2008) from the Health and Retirement Study. RESULTS: One spouse's health shock affects the health of the other partner. Results indicate that a spouse's onset of a severe health condition worsens the mental health of women and the self-reported health of men. DISCUSSION: These findings illustrate that the family context of spouses is important to consider when examining health.