Longitudinal Effects of Own and Partner Pain Intensity and Depressive Symptoms in Aging Couples
Year: 2017
Type: article
Abstract: Chronic pain is widespread in later life and linked to depression among individuals and their partners. Nevertheless, little is understood about mutual influences between pain intensity and depressive symptoms within couples as they age. Utilizing a U.S. sample of 940 heterosexual married couples aged 50 years and older (M = 64.45, SD = 7.72) drawn from five waves (2006 – 2014) of the nationally representative Health and Retirement Study (HRS), we examined individual and cross-partner associations between pain intensity and depressive symptoms across an 8-year period. Dyadic growth curve models controlled for baseline length of marriage and marital quality, along with sociodemographics, self-rated health, chronic health conditions, and functional disability. For wives and husbands, their own greater baseline pain intensity was significantly linked to higher overall levels of depressive symptoms. Unexpectedly, however, wives with more intense baseline pain reported significant decreases in their own depressive symptoms over time. Finally, husbands’ greater baseline pain intensity was significantly associated with increases in wives’ depressive symptoms over time; but the reverse association was not found. Findings underscore the value of considering both individual and spousal links between pain intensity and depressive symptoms in middle and later life. Elucidating how individual and couple processes unfold over time may generate critical insights for the development of interventions to improve and maintain the mental health of older chronic pain patients and their spouses.
Source: Innovation in Aging
Authors: C. Polenick, J.M. Brooks, K. Birditt
Institutions: University of Michigan, Dartmouth College
Language: English
Subfield: Pharmacology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,977
OpenAlex ID: W2733174698