Well-being Of Spouses Research Articles

Unpaid Public Work is Not Cost Free: Military Spouses Performing Emotional Labor

Historically, unpaid work was expected of women in many walks of life, privately, in the domestic sphere, and in the public sphere supporting their husband’s career. As women have gained rights of individual recognition and pursued their own careers, the formal expectations of military spouses have diminished. This study explored the meaning and impact of unpaid public work on the health and wellbeing of spouses of senior military Service people. Data are presented from: 12 interviews with spouses from six countries; a group discussion interviewed women; and a workshop with spouses who had not previously participated in the research. A modified grounded approach found that the unpaid public work undertaken involves emotional labor in both private/domestic and public spheres. The impact of unpaid public work is characterized by paradoxes: facilitating care for others while delaying care for oneself; loneliness alongside loss of privacy and control; and valuing the unpaid public work while the general public and military institution may not. This research illuminates the need for support for those continuing to engage in unpaid public work in the future as well as the work that may need to be undertaken by other agencies where spouses no longer provide unpaid work.

Stability of shared appraisal: The role of attachment and implications for relationships and health

In the context of coping with chronic illness, shared appraisal refers to one person’s perception that the illness is a shared issue. Despite increasing research linking shared appraisal to positive relationship and health outcomes, whether it is static or fluctuates across time has not yet been investigated. Fluctuations in shared appraisal may affect patient and spouse well-being and influence disease management. We investigated the association of daily shared appraisal fluctuations (operationalized as intraindividual standard deviations) to relationship satisfaction, psychological well-being, and diabetes-specific well-being over 2 weeks among 199 couples in which one person had type 1 diabetes. In addition, we examined attachment insecurity as a correlate of shared appraisal fluctuations. Individuals higher in anxiety or avoidance may more frequently reevaluate their relationship. Thus, their shared appraisal may be more reactive to daily events. Actor–partner interdependence models showed greater fluctuations in spouse appraisal were associated with lower patient relationship satisfaction (partner effect) but not with spouse relationship satisfaction and with greater spouse psychological distress (actor effect) but not patient psychological distress. There were no actor or partner effects of patient appraisal fluctuations on these outcomes. In terms of diabetes outcomes, regression analyses showed that greater fluctuations in patient and spouse appraisal were each associated with higher patient diabetes distress, and greater fluctuations in spouse appraisal were associated with lower patient self-care. Higher attachment anxiety was related to greater appraisal fluctuations in the spouse but not the patient. These findings highlight the importance of spouse appraisal stability for spouse relationships and well-being and for patient diabetes outcomes and suggest that attachment insecurity may be implicated in the instability of shared appraisal.

Intramarital Status Differences across Africa's Educational Expansion.

This paper documents how intra-marital differences in educational status vary across Africa's heterogeneous educational expansion, which has encompassed an enormous breadth of educational opportunities over the past 50 years. Educational expansion influences intra-marital status differences both by altering the educational composition of men and women and by reconfiguring the social conventions associated with a given educational context. Status differentials between marital partners can influence spousal wellbeing and, in the aggregate, determine the extent to which marriage provides a pathway to upward social mobility. Using Demographic and Health Survey data representing 32 sub-Saharan African countries and 5 decades of birth cohorts, the paper examines the prevalence and propensity of educational pairings as a function of educational access (the percentage of a cohort who ever attended school) and wife's education level. Educational expansion created gendered changes in educational compositions of married individuals, which led to increased prevalence of hypergamy (wives who married "up") in most countries. Educational expansion has also led hypogamous marriages to become less of a social aberration: in lower-education contexts (but less so in higher-education contexts), conventions lead women to "marry down" at far lower rates than would be expected based on the sex-specific compositions of husbands and wives. Educational attainment remains a central determinant of social positioning in African society. However, as schooling expands across the continent, social conventions regarding educational status are playing a weakening role in determining who marries whom.

Spillover effects of a husband's retirement on a woman's health: Evidence from urban China

Despite an increasing number of studies measuring the effect of retirement on individual well-being, research on spillover effects of one spouse's retirement on another spouse's well-being is limited. If such an effect exists but is not considered, it would result in an underestimation of the total retirement effect. This article examines the effect a man's retirement has on his wife's mental and physical health. Using data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey (CHARLS), I exploit the large increase in the probability of retirement at the legal retirement age for urban male wage earners in China as a natural experiment. I implement a fuzzy regression discontinuity design to compare the health outcomes of women whose husbands recently retired with those whose husbands are close to retiring. Findings indicate that the retirement of her spouse improves a woman's physical and mental well-being, most likely by increasing the frequency of her social interactions and exercise.

Implications of we-talk for relationships and health among patients with type 1 diabetes and their spouses

We-talk (first-person plural pronoun usage) is frequently used to represent the degree to which a person views an illness as shared within a couple. There is evidence that we-talk is related to good relationship and health. However, research has failed to examine the implications of we-talk for spouses and the interpersonal mechanisms that underlie relational and health benefits. To address these limitations, we investigated the association of we-talk to relationship and health among 199 couples in which one person had type 1 diabetes. We-talk was assessed in the context of a brief coping interview with patients and spouses separately. Patients reported their perceptions of their spouse’s behavior over the past month. Actor–partner interdependence, regression, and bootstrap models showed that patient we-talk was unrelated to patient and spouse well-being, but greater spouse we-talk was associated with higher patient relationship satisfaction, higher patient self-efficacy, and better patient self-care behavior. For spouses, greater spouse we-talk also was associated with higher relationship satisfaction, lower stress, and fewer depressive symptoms. Mediational analyses showed that patients’ perceptions of spouses’ greater emotional support and fewer critical behaviors partially accounted for these associations. Spouse we-talk may be more important than patient we-talk because it signifies that spouses are involved in helping with diabetes management, namely by providing emotional support and refraining from criticizing the patient.

Understanding the role of m-health to improve well-being in spouses of patients with bipolar disorder

ObjectivesSpouses and partners of individuals with bipolar disorder (BD) experience significant burden. As there are some limitations to standard psychosocial caregiver interventions, mobile health technology (mHealth) may be a way to reduce burden and improve well-being in these caregivers. The purpose of this study was to explore how the well-being of spouses or partners of patients with BD can be improved through mHealth technology. MethodsUsing a qualitative design, we conducted five focus groups and one in-depth individual interview to collect information from participants about what they would expect from such a device. The sample consists of thirteen participants (eleven spouses and two partners). The age range was 29–65, with eight females and five males. Data were collected using minimally structured interviews and independently analyzed by the authors using content analysis. ResultsResults indicated that the mHealth device many be helpful in at least six areas: reduction of stressors, decreased social isolation, improving communication in the relationship between the spouses, speaking with children about the illness, managing medications, and providing information on resources. ConclusionMobile health technology may be a feasible, available, and cost-effective support tool for spouses and partners of individuals with BD, especially in reducing caregiver stress. Future research is needed to develop the application and test its effectiveness on health outcomes in a larger trial.

Financial stress, financial stability, and military spousal well-being

Introduction: Not only do military families face similar financial stressors as civilian families, but they also face a number of unique financial stressors as a result of the military lifestyle. In this article, we explore factors that contribute to military spouses’ perceived financial stress and the effect of financial stability on military spouses’ psychological well-being and life satisfaction. Methods: The data sets used in the analyses include female civilian spouses of Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) Regular Force members who completed the Quality of Life (QOL) survey administered in 2009 ( N = 1,518) and 2013 ( N = 1,189). In Study 1, we conducted a series of analyses to assess whether CAF spouses’ socio-demographic and military lifestyle characteristics contribute to their perceived level of financial stress (2009 QOL data). In Study 2, we conducted a series of analyses to assess whether financial stress and stability contribute to CAF spouses’ well-being and life satisfaction (2009 and 2013 QOL data). Results: Results showed that socio-demographic and military lifestyle characteristics predicted military spouses’ financial stress and that more financial stress and less financial stability reduced their psychological well-being and life satisfaction. Discussion: These findings suggest that reducing military spouses’ financial stress and improving their financial stability may enhance their well-being.

Household decision making on commuting and the commuting paradox

This paper explores the commuting paradox in the context of two-partner households by estimating the relationship between the subjective well-being of spouses and their commuting distances. Some of the former literature has found evidence that individuals are not fully compensated for changes in commuting (the commuting paradox). We study unitary, cooperative, and non-cooperative decision-making models to explore which describes the household decision on commuting in the data. We use panel data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP). The regressions show clear evidence for cooperative household decision making on commuting distances (time) and do not show evidence of the commuting paradox. These results are robust in several robustness checks, including alternative definitions of household utility.

Killing me softly: Electronic communications monitoring and employee and spouse well-being

Using boundary theory and the affect-as-information framework, this paper tests the relationship between organizational expectations to monitor electronic communication during non-work hours and employee and their significant others’ health and relationship satisfaction. We theorize that organizational expectations trigger frequent employee micro-transitions during nonwork time, eliciting negative affect and leading to decreases in well-being. In a sample of 142 dyads of full time employees and their significant others, we found that detrimental health and relationship effects of expectations were mediated by negative affect. This includes crossover effects of electronic communication expectations on partner health and martial satisfaction. Our findings extend literature on work-related electronic communication at the interface of work and non-work and deepen our understanding of the impact of organizational expectations on employees and their families.

Longitudinal Associations Between Provision of Autonomy Support and Well-Being in Spouses of Individuals With Chronic Pain.

Caregiving spouses of individuals with chronic pain often experience poor well-being. The current study aimed to examine the association between chronic pain-related provision of autonomy support and well-being in support providers (spouses) of individuals with chronic pain. Spouses of individuals with a diagnosed musculoskeletal chronic pain condition (N = 172) were recruited for a five-time point longitudinal study. Participants completed the questionnaires once every 6 months across 2 years. In a follow-up diary study, participants (N = 41) completed daily records of provision of autonomy support and well-being. Multilevel analyses showed that provision of autonomy support was associated with greater well-being in support providers at both within-person and between-person levels. Longitudinal cross-lagged analyses also provided some evidence that it is provision of autonomy support that predicts well-being, and not the opposite. These effects held true in the follow-up diary study; however, some findings also suggested that the short-term associations between provision of autonomy support and well-being could be reciprocal. Current findings extend the existing literature by suggesting provision of autonomy support as a beneficial type of support for the provider within the chronic pain context and lay the groundwork for caregiver-focused interventions.

Intra- and interpersonal effects of coping on the psychological well-being of adults with sensory loss and their spouses

Purpose: The aim of the current study was to examine the associations between coping and psychological well-being among adults with sensory loss and their spouses.Methods: A total of 183 adults with sensory loss and 133 spouses participated in an online survey and were followed up six months later. Coping and well-being were measured using the Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced Scale (Brief COPE) and the five-item World Health Organization Well-Being Index (WHO-5), respectively. Cross-sectional and longitudinal intra- and interpersonal effects of coping on psychological well-being were analyzed using a structural equation modeling approach.Results: Results showed that a significant portion of adults with sensory loss (32.4%) and spouses (23.8%) had poor well-being, and this remained stable over the six-month period. Coping styles associated with the well-being of adults with sensory loss included active coping, avoidance, distraction, venting and spouse support seeking. Coping styles associated with the well-being of spouses included support seeking, distraction, venting, avoidance (by partner) and humor (by partner).Conclusion: The results highlight the need to support the well-being of adults with sensory loss and their spouses in rehabilitation, and the importance of both intra- and interpersonal coping in the adjustment process.Implications for rehabilitationRehabilitation specialists and social workers working with adults with sensory loss should, where possible, incorporate family members into support plans.Rehabilitation specialists and social workers working in sensory rehabilitation should be mindful of how the coping styles of one partner can impact the well-being of their significant other.In addition to promoting positive coping behaviors, such as planning and support seeking, rehabilitation specialists and social workers should also take care to identify and reduce maladaptive coping behaviors such as avoidance and distraction.Online and print information for spouses on how to cope with a partner’s sensory loss should be available and accessible for couples attending sensory rehabilitation clinics.

What's Mine is Yours: Evaluation of Shared Well-Being Among Married Couples and the Dyadic Influence on Individual Well-Being Change.

Objective:To evaluate the relationship between partner well-being and outcomes of chronically diseased individuals participating in an employer sponsored well-being improvement program.Methods:Using the Actor Partner Interdependence Model, we evaluated whether prior partner well-being was associated with well-being change among 2025 couples. Logistic regression models were then used to explore how spousal well-being risks relate to development and elimination of risks among program participants.Results:High well-being partners were associated with positive well-being change. Specifically, the partner effect for spouses’ high well-being on disease management participants was a 1.5 point higher well-being in the following time period (P = 0.001) while the partner effect of participants’ high well-being on spouses was nearly 1.1 points (P = 0.010).Conclusions:Well-being within couples is interdependent, and partner well-being is an important predictor of individual well-being change.

Relationship continuity and emotional well-being in spouses of people with dementia

ABSTRACTObjectives: Qualitative research has suggested that spousal experiences of discontinuity in their relationship with a person who has dementia (i.e. the relationship is experienced as radically changed) may contribute to heightened feelings of burden, entrapment, isolation, guilt and intolerance of behaviours that challenge. By contrast, continuity in the relationship may contribute to a greater sense of achievement and gratification from providing care. The present study served as a quantitative test of these suggestions.Method: A convenience sample of 71 spouses of people with dementia completed three questionnaires - the Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI), the Positive Aspects of Caregiving measure (PAC) and the Birmingham Relationship Continuity Measure (BRCM).Results: In accordance with the hypotheses, the experience of greater relationship continuity (higher BRCM scores) was correlated with fewer negative emotional reactions to caregiving (lower ZBI scores; rho = −.795) and more positive emotional reactions (higher PAC scores; rho = .764).Conclusions: The study provided some quantitative support for suggestions arising from qualitative research about how perceptions of continuity/discontinuity in the relationship may impact on the caregiving spouse's emotional well-being. Helping couples to maintain a sense of continuity and couplehood may assist their emotional adjustment to dementia.

Effects of change in arthritis severity on spouse well-being: The moderating role of relationship closeness.

The severity of a patient's illness may be detrimental for the psychological well-being of the spouse, especially for those in a particularly close relationship. Using 2 waves of data collected from a sample of 152 knee osteoarthritis (OA) patients and their spouses, we examined associations between change in patients' illness severity and change in 3 indicators of spouses' well-being (positive affect, depressive symptoms, and life satisfaction) over a 6-month period. We also tested the hypothesis that spouses' perceived relationship closeness with the patient would moderate these associations. Consistent with our prediction, a high level of relationship closeness exacerbated the negative impact of increases in patient illness severity on spouses' positive affect and depressive symptoms over 6 months. Spouses' life satisfaction declined when patients became more ill, regardless of level of relationship closeness. Our findings highlight the value of examining change in illness as a predictor of change in spouse well-being and the potential downside of relationship closeness for couples living with chronic illness.

How are spousal depressed mood, distress, and quality of life associated with risk of depressed mood in cancer survivors? Longitudinal findings from a national sample.

Spouses of cancer survivors experience both positive and negative effects from caregiving. However, it is less clear what role spousal well-being may have on cancer survivors. This study aimed to determine the impact of spousal psychosocial factors on survivor depressed mood and whether this association differed by gender. We examined longitudinal data on cancer survivors and their spouses (n = 910 dyads) from the 2004-2012 Medical Expenditures Panel Survey and a matched sample of cancer-free dyads. Subjects reported depressed mood, psychologic distress, and mental and physical health-related quality of life (HRQoL) at two time points (T1/T2). Dyadic multilevel models evaluated the impact of psychosocial factors at T1 on depressed mood at T2, controlling for sociodemographics, cancer type, survivor treatment status, and depressed mood at T1. Cancer survivors whose spouses reported depressed mood at T1 were 4.27 times more likely to report depressed mood at T2 [95% confidence interval (CI), 2.01-9.07]; this was stronger for female survivors (OR, 9.49; 95% CI, 2.42-37.20). Better spousal mental and physical HRQoL at T1 were associated with a 30% decrease in survivor depressed mood risk at T2. Most spillover effects were not observed in comparison dyads. Depressed mood and poor HRQoL in spouses may increase the risk of depressed mood in cancer survivors. The risk may be especially strong for female survivors. Identifying and improving spousal mental health and HRQoL problems may reduce the risk of depressed mood in cancer survivors. Future research should examine whether incorporating spousal care into psychooncology and survivorship programs improves survivor outcomes.

The Look that Binds: Partner-Directed Altruistic Motivation and Biased Perception in Married Couples.

A trustworthy appearance is regarded as a marker of a globally positive personality and, thus, evokes a host of benevolent responses from perceivers. Nevertheless, it is yet to be determined whether the reverse is also true, that is, whether social targets who evoke unambiguously benign motivations in perceivers are regarded as possessing a more trustworthy appearance (cf. Oosterhof & Todorov, 2008). To this end, elderly long-term married couples completed measures of partner-directed altruistic motivation, accommodative behaviors, marital satisfaction, and trust in the partner. They also completed a face-processing task involving spousal and stranger faces one year later. Higher motivation to prioritize a spouse's well-being (but none of the other relationship functioning variables assessed) predicted perceiving one's spouse's emotionally neutral face as being more trustworthy-looking. Results are discussed in the context of the reciprocal relationship between higher-order motivational processes and basic perceptual mechanisms in shaping relational climates.

Mental health and wellbeing in spouses of persons with dementia: the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study.

BackgroundCaring for a spouse diagnosed with dementia can be a stressful situation and can put the caregiving partner at risk of loss of mental health and wellbeing. The main aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between dementia and spousal mental health in a population-based sample of married couples older than 55 years of age. The association was investigated for individuals living together with their demented partner, as well as for individuals whose demented partner was living in an institution.MethodsData on dementia were collected from hospitals and nursing homes in the county of Nord-Trøndelag, Norway. These data were combined with data on spousal mental health, which were collected in a population-based health screening: the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT). Of 6,951 participating couples (>55 years), 131 included one partner that had been diagnosed with dementia.ResultsOur results indicate that after adjustment for covariates, having a partner with dementia is associated with lower levels of life satisfaction and more symptoms of anxiety and depression than reported by spouses of elderly individuals without dementia. Spouses living together with a partner diagnosed with dementia experienced moderately lower levels of life satisfaction (0.35 standard deviation [SD]) and more symptoms of depression (0.38 SD) and anxiety (0.23 SD) than did their non-caregiving counterparts. Having a partner with dementia that resided in a nursing home was associated with clearly lower life satisfaction. Compared with non-caregivers, these spouses reported lower levels of life satisfaction (1.16 SD), and also more symptoms of depression (0.38 SD), and more symptoms of anxiety (0.42 SD).ConclusionsHaving a partner with dementia is associated with loss of mental health and reduced life satisfaction. The risk of adverse mental health outcomes is greatest after the partner’s nursing home admission.

Deployment Stress and Well-Being Among Military Spouses: The Role of Social Support

The demands of military service, including the intensity and frequency of military operations, can have numerous effects on military families. Evidence suggests that spousal support may play an important role in the resiliency of military families. The present study examined the roles of deployment stress and social support in the psychological well-being of spouses of deployed military personnel (N = 639). The results showed that deployment stress and perceived social support from family, nonmilitary friends, and military partner played independent roles in the psychological wellbeing of military spouses. This evidence suggests the importance of taking perceived social support into account when explaining the variance in the psychological wellbeing of military spouses. Results are discussed in light of some methodological constraints, and the potential implications related to heightening families’ perceptions of interpersonal relationships are emphasized.

What about the Family? Work experiences and family well being

Recently, researchers have started to examine the impact of employees’ work experiences on their families. This session will focus on expanding this work and take a closer look at three crucial family stakeholder groups: First, we explore the impact of workplace incivility on spousal well-being. Second, we investigate the characteristics of specific occupations as antecedents of breastfeeding, a crucial precursor for health outcomes in children. Last, we investigate work experiences among breastfeeding mothers as precursors of maternal psychological health. Predicting Breast Feeding with Maternal Work Characteristics Presenter: Bobbie Dirr; U. of Houston Presenter: Zhuxi Wang; U. of Houston Presenter: Jing Zhang; U. of Houston Presenter: Rissa Thomas; U. of Houston Presenter: Lane Strathearn; Baylor College of Medicine Bringing it Home: Implications of Incivility for the Work-Family Interface Presenter: Lisa A Marchiondo; Wayne State U. Presenter: Gwenith Fisher; Colorado State U. Presenter: Russell A. Matthews; Bowling Green State U. Presenter: Lilia Cortina; U. of Michigan After the Baby: Workplace Practices and Breastfeeding Mothers’ Psychological Distress Presenter: Christiane Spitzmueller; U. of Houston Presenter: Zhuxi Wang; U. of Houston Presenter: Surizaday Serrano; U. of Houston Presenter: Monica Coleman; U. of Houston

Health and Mental Health Needs of Children in US Military Families

The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have been challenging for US uniformed service families and their children. Almost 60% of US service members have family responsibilities. Approximately 2.3 million active duty, National Guard, and Reserve service members have been deployed since the beginning of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (2001 and 2003, respectively), and almost half have deployed more than once, some for up to 18 months' duration. Up to 2 million US children have been exposed to a wartime deployment of a loved one in the past 10 years. Many service members have returned from combat deployments with symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and traumatic brain injury. The mental health and well-being of spouses, significant others, children (and their friends), and extended family members of deployed service members continues to be significantly challenged by the experiences of wartime deployment as well as by combat mortality and morbidity. The medical system of the Department of Defense provides health and mental health services for active duty service members and their families as well as activated National Guard and Reserve service members and their families. In addition to military pediatricians and civilian pediatricians employed by military treatment facilities, nonmilitary general pediatricians care for >50% of children and family members before, during, and after wartime deployments. This clinical report is for all pediatricians, both active duty and civilian, to aid in caring for children whose loved ones have been, are, or will be deployed.