%0 Journal Article %J J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci %D 2018 %T Drinking Patterns Among Older Couples: Longitudinal Associations With Negative Marital Quality. %A Kira S. Birditt %A James A. Cranford %A Jasmine A Manalel %A Toni C Antonucci %K Aged %K Aged, 80 and over %K Alcohol Drinking %K Family Conflict %K Female %K Humans %K Longitudinal Studies %K Male %K Marriage %K Middle Aged %K Sex Factors %K Spouses %X

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.

%B J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci %V 73 %P 655-665 %8 2018 04 16 %G eng %U http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27353031 %N 4 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27353031?dopt=Abstract %R 10.1093/geronb/gbw073 %0 Journal Article %J Gerontologist %D 2012 %T Cohort differences in the availability of informal caregivers: are the Boomers at risk? %A Lindsay H Ryan %A Jacqui Smith %A Toni C Antonucci %A James S Jackson %K Aged %K Aged, 80 and over %K Aging %K Caregivers %K Censuses %K Family Characteristics %K Female %K Health Status %K Humans %K Likelihood Functions %K Longitudinal Studies %K Male %K Middle Aged %K Nuclear Family %K Population Growth %K Residence Characteristics %K Retirement %K Risk %K Socioeconomic factors %X

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: We compare the close family resources of Baby Boomers (BBs) to previous cohorts of older adults at population level and then examine individual-level cohort comparisons of age-related trajectories of informal care availability from midlife into old age.

DESIGN AND METHODS: Population data from the U.S. Census and from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) are used to identify a cohort similar to the BBs on marital status and fertility rates. Using generalized linear mixed models and 10-year longitudinal data from Depression and WWII parents (DWP; n = 1,052) and the parents of BBs (PBB; n = 3,573) in the HRS, we examine cohort differences in the time-varying likelihoods of being married and of having an adult child living within 10 miles.

RESULTS: The DWP had similar informal care resources at entry to old age as is expected in the BB. Longitudinal analyses of the DWP and PBB cohorts in HRS reveal that the availability of family changes over time and that the DWP cohort was significantly less likely to have a spouse or a grown child living nearby.

IMPLICATIONS: These findings, and future projections based on them, have significant implications for institutions and public policy concerned with the informal caregiving needs of the Boomer cohort as they age.

%B Gerontologist %I 52 %V 52 %P 177-88 %8 2012 Apr %G eng %N 2 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22298747?dopt=Abstract %2 PMC3304892 %4 Baby boomers/Caregivers/Older people/Public policy/Generalized linear models/Generalized linear models %$ 62838 %R 10.1093/geront/gnr142