Depression as a moderator and a mediator of marital quality's effect on older adults' self-rated physical health.

BACKGROUND: Depression and marital quality are both established correlates of physical health for older adults. However, there is a lack of research on the interaction between depression and marital quality on physical health, and on depression's role as a mediator of the mechanism by which marital quality affects physical health. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to test the moderation and mediation effects of depression on marital quality's impact on older adults' self-rated physical health. METHOD: Data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (Wave 2) (N = 2118) were used to test a latent moderated mediation structural equation model. Marital quality was constructed as a latent variable with indicators measuring its various aspects. RESULTS: Depression had a significant moderating effect (ß = .17, SE = .04, p < .001, 95% CI [.08, .25]) on marital quality's impact on self-rated physical health: when the level of depression was low, higher marital quality was strongly associated with better self-rated physical health, but when the level of depression was high, higher marital quality became slightly associated with poorer self-rated physical health. Moreover, depression was a significant partial mediator (ß = -.27, SE = .03, p < .001, 95% CI [-.33, -.21]) of the effect of marital quality on self-rated physical health. CONCLUSIONS: Depression plays an important role in explaining the mechanism by which older adults' marital quality affects their self-rated physical health. For marital quality to positively affect physical health, older adults need to attend to their personal mental health needs.

The use of Theory in Family Therapy Research: Content Analysis and Update.

In this study, we evaluated 275 empirical studies from Journal of Marital and Family Therapy and Family Process from 2010 to 2015 on their use of theory, and compared our findings to those of a similar previous analysis (Hawley & Geske, 2000). Overall, theory seems to have become much better incorporated in empirical family therapy research, with only 16.4% of the articles not using theory in either their introductory or discussion sections. Theory appeared better incorporated in the introductory sections than in the discussion sections. Systems theory remained the most commonly used conceptual framework, followed by attachment theory. We discuss areas for improving theory incorporation in family therapy research, and offer suggestions for both family therapy researchers and educators.

Epstein-Barr virus reactivation and upper-respiratory illness in elite swimmers.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between latent viral shedding of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in saliva, upper-respiratory illness, and mucosal immune suppression in a cohort of highly trained swimmers undertaking intensive training. METHODS: Saliva was collected before selected training sessions from 14 elite male swimmers during a 30-d period of intensive training. Prior infection with EBV was determined by EBV antibody serology. Salivary IgA concentrations were measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and EBV viral shedding (EBV-DNA) was detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Symptoms of upper-respiratory illness were recorded daily. RESULTS: Eleven swimmers (79%) were seropositive for prior EBV infection. Seven EBV seropositive swimmers (64%) had EBV-DNA detected during the study period. Upper-respiratory symptoms (URS) were reported in six of seven swimmers in whom EBV-DNA was detected and in three of four swimmers with no EBV-DNA detection. No URS were reported in the EBV seronegative swimmers. There was a statistically significant relationship between EBV serology status and URS (P = 0.027). EBV-DNA was detected in saliva before the appearance of URS. Salivary IgA levels were significantly lower immediately before the URS (P = 0.01) compared with subsequent peak IgA levels and declined to pre-URS levels on average 11 d after the first appearance of URS. CONCLUSIONS: The time course of appearance of EBV-DNA in relation to URS suggests latent viral EBV shedding may be a contributing factor in the URS. The low levels of salivary IgA detected before the URS indicated transient mucosal immune suppression in the study cohort. The viral shedding may alternatively be a reflection of the altered immune control mechanisms that occur in response to intensive exercise and unrelated to the URS.