Sexual activity and psychological health as mediators of the relationship between physical health and marital quality

Journals of Gerontology - Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences

Volumn 69, Issue 3, 2014, Pages 482-492

  Galinsky, Adena M ^a   Waite, Linda J ^b  

^a JOHNS HOPKINS BLOOMBERG SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO   (United States)

Author keywords

Aging; Marital quality; Marriage; Psychological health; Sexuality.

Indexed keywords

AGED; AGING; ARTICLE; FEMALE; HEALTH STATUS; HUMAN; MALE; MARITAL QUALITY; MARRIAGE; MENTAL HEALTH; MIDDLE AGED; PROSPECTIVE STUDY; PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT; PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH; QUALITY OF LIFE; RANDOMIZATION; SEXUAL BEHAVIOR; SEXUALITY.; SPOUSE; STATISTICS; UNITED STATES; VERY ELDERLY;

AGING; MARITAL QUALITY; MARRIAGE; PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH; SEXUALITY.;

AGED; AGED, 80 AND OVER; AGING; FEMALE; HEALTH STATUS; HUMANS; MALE; MARRIAGE; MENTAL HEALTH; MIDDLE AGED; PROSPECTIVE STUDIES; QUALITY OF LIFE; RANDOM ALLOCATION; SEXUAL BEHAVIOR; SPOUSES; UNITED STATES;

EID: 84898919762     PISSN: 10795014     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/geronb/gbt165     Document Type: Article

References (63)

1. Baron, R. M, & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173-1182. doi:http://dx.doi. org/10.1037/0022-3514.51.6.1173
2. Benyamini, Y, Idler, E. L, Leventhal, H, & Leventhal, E. A. (2000). Positive affect and function as influences on self-Assessments of health: Expanding our views beyond illness and disability. The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 55, 107-116. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ geronb/55.2.P107
3. Birditt, K, & Antonucci, T. C. (2008). Life sustaining irritations? Relationship quality and mortality in the context of chronic illness. Social Science & Medicine, 67, 1291-1299. doi:10.1016/j. socscimed.2008.06.029
4. Blazer, D. G. (2009). Depression in late life: Review and commentary. The Journal of Lifelong Learning in Psychiatry, VII, 118-136. doi:http:// dx.doi.org/10.2307/352716
5. Booth, A, & Johnson, D. R. (1994). Declining health and marital quality. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 56, 218-223. doi:10.2307/352716
6. Bradbury, T N, Fincham, F. D, & Beach, S. R. H. (2000). Research on the nature and determinants of marital satisfaction: A decade in review. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 62, 964-980. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2000.00964.x
7. Bruce, M. L. (2000). Depression and disability. In G. M. Williams, D. R. Shaffer, & P. A. Parmelee (Eds.), Physical illness and depression in older adults: A handbook of theory, research, and practice (pp. 11-29). New York, NY: Kluwer Academic
8. Bulanda, J. R. (2011). Gender, marital power, and marital quality in later life. Journal of Women & Aging, 23, 3-22. doi:10.1080/08952841.2 011.540481
9. Call, V, Sprecher, S, & Schwartz, P. (1995). The incidence and frequency of marital sex in a national sample. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 57, 639-652. doi:10.2307/353919
10. Carpenter, L. M, Nathanson, C. A, & Kim, Y. J. (2009). Physical women, emotional men: Gender and sexual satisfaction in midlife. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 38, 87-107. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/ s10508-007-9215-y
11. Carstensen, L. L. (1992). Social and emotional patterns in adulthood - Support for socioemotional selectivity theory. Psychology and Aging, 7, 331-338. doi:10.1037/0882-7974.7.3.331
12. Choi, H, & Marks, N. F. (2008). Marital conflict, depressive symptoms, and functional impairment. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 70, 377-390. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2008.00488.x
13. Corra, M, Carter, S. K, Carter, J. S, & Knox, D. (2009). Trends in marital happiness by gender and race, 1973 to 2006. Journal of Family Issues, 30, 1379-1404. doi:10.1177/0192513X09336214
14. Coyne, J. C, Rohrbaugh, M. J, Shoham, V, Sonnega, J. S, Nicklas, J. M, & Cranford, J. A. (2001). Prognostic importance of marital quality for survival of congestive heart failure. The American Journal of Cardiology, 88, 526-529. doi:10.1016/S0002-9149(01)01731-3
15. Davila, J, Bradbury, T N, Cohan, C. L, & Tochluk, S. (1997). Marital functioning and depressive symptoms: Evidence for a stress generation model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 849-861. doi:10.1037/0022- 3514.73.4.849
16. DeLamater, J, & Moorman, S. M. (2007). Sexual behavior in later life. Journal of Aging and Health, 19, 921-945. doi:10.1177/0898264307308342
17. Ditzen, B, Hoppmann, C, & Klumb, P. (2008). Positive couple interactions and daily cortisol: On the stress-protecting role of intimacy. Psychosomatic Medicine, 70, 883-889. doi:10.1097/ PSY.0b013e318185c4fc
18. Donnelly, D. A. (1993). Sexually inactive marriages. Journal of Sex Research, 30, 171-179. doi:10.1080/00224499309551698
19. Ferraro, K. F, & Kelley-Moore, J. A. (2001). Self-rated health and mortality among black and white adults: Examining the dynamic evaluation thesis. The Journals of Gerontology. Series B, Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 56, S195-S205. doi:10.1093/geronb/56.4.S195
20. Fincham, F, Beach, S, & Kemp-Fincham, S. (1997). Marital quality: A new theoretical perspective. In R. Sternberg & M. Hojjat (Eds.), Satisfaction in close relationships (pp. 275-306). New York, NY: Guilford Press
21. Fincham, F. D, & Beach, S. R. H. (2010). Marriage in the new millennium: A decade in review. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 72, 630-649. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2010.00722.x
22. Fincham, F. D, & Linfield, K. J. (1997). A new look at marital quality: Can spouses feel positive and negative about their marriage? Journal of Family Psychology, 11, 489-502. doi:10.1037/0893-3200.11.4.489-502
23. Floyd, F. J, & Widaman, K. F. (1995). Factor analysis in the development and refinement of clinical assessment instruments. Psychological Assessment, 7, 286-299. doi:http://dx.doi. org/10.1037/1040-3590.7.3.286
24. Galinsky, A. M. (2012). Sexual touching and difficulties with sexual arousal and orgasm among U.S. older adults. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 41, 875-890. doi:10.1007/s10508-011-9873-7
25. Galinsky, A, Waite, L. J, & McClintock, L. M. (in press). Sexual interest and motivation, sexual behavior and physical contact in NSHAP Wave 2. The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
26. Gierveld, J. d. e. J, van Groenou, M. B, Hoogendoorn, A. W, & Smit, J. H. (2009). Quality of marriages in later life and emotional and social loneliness. The Journals of Gerontology. Series B, Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 64, 497-506. doi:10.1093/geronb/gbn043
27. Hagedoorn, M, Sanderman, R, Ranchor, A. V, Brilman, E. I, Kempen, G. I, & Ormel, J. (2001). Chronic disease in elderly couples: Are women more responsive to their spouses' health condition than men? Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 51, 693-696. doi:10.1016/ S0022-3999(01)00279-3
28. Hammen, C. (1991). Generation of stress in the course of unipolar depression. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 100, 555-561. doi:10.1037/0021-843X. 100.4.555
29. Hawkins, D. N, & Booth, A. (2005). Unhappily ever after: Effects of long-Term, low-quality marriages on well-being. Social Forces, 84, 451-471. doi:10.1353/sof.2005.0103
30. Henry, N. J. M, Berg, C. A, Smith, T. W, & Florsheim, P. (2007). Positive and negative characteristics of marital interaction and their association with marital satisfaction in middle-Aged and older couples. Psychology and Aging, 22, 428-441. doi:10.1037/0882.7974.22.3.428
31. Hibbard, J. H, & Pope, C. R. (1993). The quality of social roles as predictors of morbidity and mortality. Social Science & Medicine, 36, 217-225. doi:10.1016/0277-9536(93)90005-O
32. Holt-Lunstad J, & Birmingham, W. (2008). Is there something unique about marriage? The relative impact of marital status, relationship quality, and network social support on ambulatory blood pressure and mental health. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 35, 239-244. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12160-008- 9018-p
33. Horwitz, A. V, White, H. R, & Howell-White, S. (1996). Becoming married and mental health: A longitudinal study of a cohort of young adults. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 58, 895-907. doi:10.2307/353978
34. Hughes, M. E, & Waite, L. J. (2009). Marital biography and health at midlife. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 50, 344-358. doi:10.1177/002214650905000307
35. Karraker, A, Delamater, J, & Schwartz, C. R. (2011). Sexual frequency decline from midlife to later life. The Journals of Gerontology. Series B, Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 66, 502-512. doi:10.1093/geronb/ gbr058
36. Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K, & Newton, T. L. (2001). Marriage and health: His and hers. Psychological Bulletin, 127, 472-503. doi:10.1037//0033-2909.127. 4.472
37. New York, NY: Viking Listening to Prozac 1993
38. Kramer, P. D. (1993). Listening to Prozac. New York, NY: Viking. Laumann, E. O, Das, A, & Waite, L. J. (2008). Sexual dysfunction among older adults: Prevalence and risk factors from a nationally representative U.S. probability sample of men and women 57 to 85 years of age. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 5, 2300-2311. doi:10.1111/j.1743-6109.2008.00974.x
39. Lindau, S, Schumm, P, Laumann, E. O, Levinson, W, O'Muircheataigh, C. A, & Waite, L. J. (2007). A national study of sexuality and health among older adults in the United States. New England Journal of Medicine, 357, 762-774. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1056/ NEJMoa067423
40. Luo, Y, Hawkley, L. C, Waite, L, & Caccioppo, J. T. (2012). Loneliness, health, and mortality in old age: A national longitudinal study. Social Science & Medicine, 74, 907-914. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j. socscimed.2011.11.028
41. Mulsant, B. H, Ganguli, M, & Seaberg, E. C. (1997). The relationship between self-rated health and depressive symptoms in an epidemiological sample of community-dwelling older adults. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 45, 954-958
42. Northouse, L. L, Mood, D, Templin, T, Mellon, S, & George, T. (2000). Couples' patterns of adjustment to colon cancer. Social Science & Medicine, 50, 271-284. doi:10.1016/S0277-9536(99)00281-6
43. O'Muircheartaigh, C, Eckman, S, & Smith, S. (2009). Statistical design and estimation for the National Social life, Health, and Aging Project. The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 64(Suppl. 1), i12-i19. doi:10.1093/geronb/gbp045
44. O'Muircheartaigh, C, English, N, Pedlow, S, & Kwok, P. K. (in press). Sample design, sample augmentation, and estimation for Wave II of the National Social Life, Health and Aging Project (NSHAP). The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
45. Ormel, J, Rijsdijk, F. V, Sullivan, M, van Sonderen, E, & Kempen, G. I. J. M. (2002). Temporal and reciprocal relationship between IADL/ ADL disability and depressive symptoms in late life. The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 57, 338-347. doi:10.1093/geronb/57.4.P338
46. Preacher, K. J, & Hayes, A. F. (2008). Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods, 40, 879-891. doi:10.3758/ BRM.40.3.879
47. Rehman, U. S, Gollan, J, & Mortimer, A. R. (2008). The marital context of depression: Research, limitations, and new directions. Clinical Psychology Review, 28, 179-198. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2007.04.007
48. Ross, C. E. (1995). Reconceptualizing marital-status as a continuum of social attachment. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 57, 129-140. doi:10.2307/353822
49. Smith, J. P. (2009). Reconstructing childhood health histories. Demography, 46, 387-403. doi:10.1353/dem.0.0058
50. Smith, S, Jaszczak, A, Graber, J, Lundeen, K, Leitsch, S, Wargo, E., & O'Muircheartaigh, C. (2009). Instrument development, study design implementation, and survey conduct for the national social life, health, and aging project. The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 64(Suppl. 1), i20-i29. doi:10.1093/geronb/gbn013
51. Stanley, S. M, Markman, H. J, & Whitton, S. W. (2002). Communication, conflict, and commitment: Insights on the foundations of relationship success from a national survey. Family Process, 41, 659-675. doi:10.1111/j.1545-5300. 2002.00659.x
52. Uchino, B. N, Cacioppo, J. T, & Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K. (1996). The relationship between social support and physiological processes: A review with emphasis on underlying mechanisms and implications for health. Psychological Bulletin, 119, 488-531. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.119.3.488
53. Umberson, D, Williams, K, Powers, D. A, Liu, H, & Needham, B. (2006). You make me sick: Marital quality and health over the life course. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 47, 1-16. doi:10.1177/002214650604700101
54. Vasilopoulos, T, Kotwal, A, Huisingh-Scheetz, M, Waite, L, McClintock, M. K, & Dale, W. (in press). Comorbidity and chronic conditions in the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP), Wave 2. The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
55. Waite, L. J, & Gallagher, M. (2000). The case for marriage: Why married people are happier, healthier, and better off financially. New York, NY: Broadway Books
56. Waite, L. J, Luo, Y, & Lewin, A. C. (2009). Marital happiness and marital stability: Consequences for psychological wellbeing. Social Science Research, 38, 201-212. doi:10.1016/j. ssresearch.2008.07.001
57. Warner, D, & Kelley-Moore, J. (2012). The social context of disablement among older adults: Does marital quality matter for loneliness? Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 53, 50-66. doi:http://dx.doi. org/10.1177/0022146512439540
58. Whisman, M. A. (2007). Marital distress and DSM-IV psychiatric disorders in a population-based national survey. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 116, 638-643. doi:10.1037/0021-843X.116.3.638
59. Wickrama, K. A. S, Lorenz, F. O, Conger, R. D, & Elder, G. H. (1997). Marital quality and physical illness: A latent growth curve analysis. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 59, 143-155. doi:10.2307/353668
60. Williams, K. (2003). Has the future of marriage arrived? A contemporary examination of gender, marriage, and psychological wellbeing. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 44, 470-487. doi:10.2307/1519794
61. Yang, Y. (2008). Trends in U.S. adult chronic disease mortality, 1960-1999: Age, period, and cohort variations. Demography, 45, 387-416. doi:10.1353/dem.0.0000
62. Yorgason, J. B, Booth, A, & Johnson, D. (2008). Health, disability, and marital quality is the association different for younger versus older cohorts? Research on Aging, 30, 623-648. doi:10.1177/0164027508322570
63. Zuvekas, S. H, & Fleishman, J. A. (2008). Self-rated mental health and racial/ethnic disparities in mental health service use. Medical Care, 46, 915-923. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/MLR. 0b013e31817919e5.