NORC, Department of Sociology, University of Chicago, Illinois.
Department of Sociology, Michigan State University, East Lansing.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2019 Apr 12;74(4):703-714. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbx024.
Health limitations can change older adults' social relationships and social engagement. Yet, researchers rarely examine how the disability of one's spouse might affect one's social relationships, even though such life strains are often experienced as a couple. This study investigates the association between functional and cognitive limitations and social experience in a dyadic context.
We use actor-partner interdependence models to analyze the partner data from 953 heterosexual couples in Wave II (2010-2011) of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project.
One spouse's functional and cognitive health is associated with the other's relationship quality, but the pattern varies by gender. Husbands' functional limitations are associated with lower marital support and higher marital strain in wives, but wives' functional limitations are related to lower family and friendship strain in husbands. Husbands' cognitive impairment also predicts higher family and friend support in wives.
Findings support a gendered dyadic relationship between health and social life and highlight women's caregiver role and better connection with family and friends. There are also differences between experiencing cognitive and physical limitations in couples. Finally, mild health impairment sometimes shows stronger effects on social relationships than severe impairment, suggesting adaptation to health transition.
健康限制会改变老年人的社会关系和社交参与度。然而，研究人员很少研究配偶的残疾如何影响一个人的社交关系，尽管这种生活压力通常是夫妻双方共同经历的。本研究在对偶背景下调查了功能和认知限制与社交体验之间的关联。
我们使用演员-伙伴相互依存模型分析了来自国家社会生活、健康和老龄化项目第二波（2010-2011 年）的 953 对异性夫妇的伴侣数据。
一方配偶的功能和认知健康与另一方的关系质量有关，但模式因性别而异。丈夫的功能限制与妻子的婚姻支持度较低和婚姻紧张度较高有关，但妻子的功能限制与丈夫的家庭和友谊紧张度较低有关。丈夫的认知障碍也预示着妻子的家庭和朋友支持度更高。
研究结果支持健康和社会生活之间存在性别化的对偶关系，并强调了女性的照顾者角色和与家庭及朋友的更好联系。在夫妻双方中，体验认知和身体限制也存在差异。最后，轻度健康损害有时比严重损害对社交关系的影响更强，这表明对健康转变的适应。
