@article {8508, title = {Drinking Patterns Among Older Couples: Longitudinal Associations With Negative Marital Quality.}, journal = {J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci}, volume = {73}, year = {2018}, month = {2018 04 16}, pages = {655-665}, abstract = {

Objectives: Research with younger couples indicates that alcohol use has powerful effects on marital quality, but less work has examined the effects of drinking among older couples. This study examined whether dyadic patterns of drinking status among older couples are associated with negative marital quality over time.

Method: Married participants (N = 4864) from the Health and Retirement Study reported on alcohol consumption (whether they drink alcohol and average amount consumed per week) and negative marital quality (e.g., criticism and demands) across two waves (Wave 1 2006/2008 and Wave 2 2010/2012).

Results: Concordant drinking couples reported decreased negative marital quality over time, and these links were significantly greater among wives. Wives who reported drinking alcohol reported decreased negative marital quality over time when husbands also reported drinking and increased negative marital quality over time when husbands reported not drinking.

Discussion: The present findings stress the importance of considering the drinking status rather than the amount of alcohol consumed of both members of the couple when attempting to understand drinking and marital quality among older couples. These findings are particularly salient given the increased drinking among baby boomers and the importance of marital quality for health among older couples.

}, keywords = {Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Alcohol Drinking, Family Conflict, Female, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Marriage, Middle Aged, Sex Factors, Spouses}, issn = {1758-5368}, doi = {10.1093/geronb/gbw073}, url = {http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27353031}, author = {Kira S. Birditt and James A. Cranford and Jasmine A Manalel and Toni C Antonucci} } @article {9430, title = {Work-Hour Trajectories and Depressive Symptoms Among Midlife and Older Married Couples}, journal = {Work, Aging and Retirement}, volume = {4}, year = {2018}, pages = {108-122}, abstract = {Life course theories highlight the importance of understanding psychological health of aging individuals in context. Work and marriage are influential contexts in later life that are increasingly relevant because both spouses of many households work and individuals are delaying retirement. Although there is extensive literature on predictors of depressive symptoms, incorporating life course histories of work and social contexts has been a critical omission in the aging and health field. This study identifies couples{\textquoteright} work trajectories as a function of husband{\textquoteright}s and wife{\textquoteright}s weekly work hours and examines the link between couple work-hour trajectory membership and individual depressive symptoms. Data are from 1,641 married couples who participated in the 1998{\textendash}2012 waves (ages 51{\textendash}89) of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Findings revealed 6 distinct subgroups of work-hour trajectories among couples and that membership in these subgroups was associated with depressive symptoms. Retiring husbands with wives who continued to work and wives who worked minimally throughout the years (regardless of whether their husbands worked or retired) reported more depressive symptoms than other subgroups. These results suggest that work trajectories themselves, beyond current health status, may carry differential psychological health risk. Moreover, several sociodemographic and life course factors in 1998 were significant predictors of trajectory membership. These findings provide insight into midlife factors that may influence work trajectories (and the potential health risk) through to older adulthood. They suggest that a life course examination of work and social contexts is needed for a greater understanding of individual and couple health development.}, keywords = {Couples, Depressive symptoms, Employment and Labor Force}, issn = {2054-4642}, doi = {10.1093/workar/wax028}, url = {http://academic.oup.com/workar/article/4/1/108/4762667http://academic.oup.com/workar/article-pdf/4/1/108/23002634/wax028.pdf}, author = {Wylie H Wan and Toni C Antonucci and Kira S. Birditt and Jacqui Smith and Gwenith G Fisher} }