Social participation and marital satisfaction in mid to late life marriage.

Objectives: Research shows that social participation is beneficial for overall health and well-being. Yet, no research to our knowledge has examined whether social participation is associated with greater marital satisfaction in middle-aged and older couples. We hypothesized that middle-aged and older adults would have greater marital satisfaction when their spouse engaged in social groups because there would be greater opportunity for self-expansion and for social support from ties outside the marriage. Methods: We used background self-report data from a multi-method study of 98 middle-aged and older adult married couples (N = 196) with chronic conditions. As part of the study, spouses completed questionnaires that measured the frequency and intensity of involvement in social groups (e.g., church, business groups). Marital satisfaction was measured with the Locke Wallace Marital Adjustment Test. Results: Contrary to our hypotheses, results from actor-partner interdependence models provided no evidence that one's own social participation was associated with one's own marital satisfaction (actor effects). However, in line with our hypotheses regarding partner effects, one spouse's (a) report of any social participation with church organizations, business groups, or social groups, (b) greater number of affiliations with different organizations, (c) greater frequency of participation, and (d) being an active officer in a social organization were significantly associated with the other spouse's greater marital satisfaction. Discussion: Findings of this study suggest that having a spouse who participates in social groups is good for relationship satisfaction in mid to late life marriage.

Physiological correlates of support for self-expansion and links to goal pursuit in retirement.

Partner support for self-expansion has been associated with long-term health and retirement satisfaction, yet the underlying physiological correlates are unknown. We predicted that partner support for self-expansion would be associated with short-term physiology and behavior as well as long-term goal pursuit. And 100 couples with at least one retiree within 2 years of retirement visited the laboratory and had a discussion of the retirees' future goals for retirement. We recorded behaviors and physiological responses during the discussion, assessed immediate feelings of capability afterwards, and then assessed goal pursuit one year later. Laboratory results indicated that partner support for self-expansion was linked to increased stroke volume reactivity in the support-recipient (suggesting a greater challenge response), which in turn predicted greater feelings of capability of accomplishing the goal, particularly for males. In addition, decreases in the support-provider's pre-ejection period reactivity (greater sympathetic arousal) during the discussion were associated with greater partner support for self-expansion in the lab, suggesting that support providers offer greater levels of support when they exhibit greater physiological signs of task engagement. Longitudinal follow-up results indicated that immediate feelings of capability of accomplishing the goal following a discussion about that goal predicted goal pursuit 1 year later. This research leverages a dyadic design and a multi-method approach (involving physiology, observed behavior, and perceptions) to show that couple members' physiology during goal discussions has long-term implications for a support-recipient's ability to accomplish goals.

Growing into retirement: Longitudinal evidence for the importance of partner support for self-expansion.

Retirement can be a turbulent time of life in which people must navigate changes in their identity from ending a career and beginning a new phase of life. However, retirement can also provide opportunities for growth or self-expansion. We examined the benefits of partner support for self-expansion by using longitudinal evidence (at 3 time points) in a sample of 73 couples. We tested a theoretical model proposing that partner support for self-expansion at Time 1 would predict retirement satisfaction and overall health 1 year later and that these effects would be mediated by self-expansion at 6 months. Using structural equation modeling, we found significant indirect effects for both retirement satisfaction and health, supporting all hypotheses. These results suggest that during retirement, partners play an important role in encouraging opportunities for growth as an investment toward future retirement satisfaction and health. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Predicting the Pursuit and Support of Challenging Life Opportunities.

Deciding to embrace challenging opportunities may present one life context through which individuals may thrive, and these decisions may be influenced by one's significant relationships. Married couples were unobtrusively videotaped as one couple-member was presented with a challenging opportunity and decided whether to accept it. We assessed interpersonal predictors of the decision to accept or forgo the opportunity, predictors of the spouse's support during decision-making, and follow-up thriving outcomes 6 months later. Results indicated that specific support behaviors enacted by the spouse-relational catalyst (RC) support provision-encouraged decision-makers to accept the challenge and that this decision predicted long-term thriving outcomes for the decision-maker. Results also indicated that the spouse's support behavior was influenced by both chronic and experimentally manipulated motivations for providing support, and these motives provide pathways by which relationship satisfaction and attachment security predict the provision of RC support. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Apprehensive about retirement: Women, life transitions, and relationships.

Understanding women's attitudes toward retirement is crucial for being able to help women adjust to this transition. The present study uses interviews and questionnaires to understand retirement ambivalence and the role that close relationships play in women's retirement experiences. Findings indicate that women have mixed feelings about retirement; they are both excited and fearful. They particularly enjoy the freedom and control this transition brings but are also moderately fearful of retirement, especially about shifting relationships. A better-quality relationship correlates with greater satisfaction and less fear. Such insights can be used to help women prepare for this major transition.

A Longitudinal Investigation of Relational Catalyst Support of Goal Strivings.

The goal of this work was to test a theoretical model of relational catalyst support provision that promotes thriving in non-adverse times. We tested a pathway proposed by Feeney and Collins (2014) that explains how relational catalyst support in the context of close relationships might lead to thriving. We proposed that once relational catalyst support has been received, it functions through the mechanisms of being perceived to be responsive to one's needs and promoting perceived capability. Perceived capability should promote indices of thriving including self-esteem, goal accomplishment, growth, and specific and general availability of support. This model was supported in two studies of married couples using observational and longitudinal methods surrounding the support of goal-strivings. Results indicate that (a) partner support of goal-strivings predicted important indicators of thriving over time, and (b) both received and perceived relational catalyst support work together and play important roles in predicting these outcomes.

Motivations for providing a secure base: links with attachment orientation and secure base support behavior.

This investigation examined the importance of underlying motivations in predicting secure base support behavior, as well as the extent to which support motivations are predicted by individual differences in attachment orientation. Participants were 189 married couples who participated in two laboratory sessions. During a questionnaire session, couples completed assessments of their underlying motivations for providing, and for not providing, support for their partner's exploration (i.e., goal-strivings), as well as assessments of their typical secure base support behavior. In an observational session, couples engaged in a discussion of one member's personal goals, during which the partner's secure base support was assessed. Results revealed a variety of distinct motivations for providing, and for not providing, secure base support to one's partner, as well as theoretically expected links between these motivations and both secure base behavior and attachment orientation. This work establishes motivations as important mechanisms that underlie the effective or ineffective provision of relational support.

Predictors and consequences of perceived lack of choice in becoming an informal caregiver.

OBJECTIVES: Using data from a national sample of informal caregivers to older adults, we identify predictors of lack of choice and the consequences of lack of choice in taking on the caregiving role. METHODS: A national telephone survey with 1397 caregivers was carried out to assess whether respondents had a choice in taking on the caregiving role, their demographic characteristics, the nature and duration of their caregiving experience, and its impact on their physical and psychological well-being. We compare caregivers who felt they had no choice in taking on the caregiving role to those who did. RESULTS: In total, 44% of caregivers reported a lack of choice in taking on the caregiving role. Highly educated, older caregivers caring for a younger care recipient with emotional or behavioral problems were most likely to report that they had no choice in taking on the caregiving role. Lack of choice is associated with higher levels of emotional stress, physical strain, and negative health impacts, after controlling for multiple confounds including level of care provided, relationship type, primary health condition of the care recipient, and demographic characteristics. CONCLUSION: Lack of choice is an independent risk factor for the negative effects of caregiving, and clinicians should be vigilant to lack of choice as a marker of caregiver distress.

Affective forecasting and individual differences: accuracy for relational events and anxious attachment.

We examined whether accuracy of affective forecasting for significant life events was moderated by a theoretically relevant individual difference (anxious attachment), with different expected relations to predicted and actual happiness. In 3 studies (2 cross-sectional, 1 longitudinal), participants predicted what their happiness would be after entering or ending a romantic relationship. Consistent with previous research, people were generally inaccurate forecasters. However, inaccuracy for entering a relationship was significantly moderated by anxious attachment. Predictions were largely unrelated to anxious attachment, but actual happiness was negatively related to attachment anxiety. Moderation for breaking up showed a similar but less consistent pattern. These results suggest a failure to account for one's degree of anxious attachment when making affective forecasts and show how affective forecasting accuracy in important life domains may be moderated by a focally relevant individual difference, with systematically different associations between predicted and actual happiness.