Wright Matthew R
Department of Criminology, Sociology, and Geography, Arkansas State University, Jonesboro.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2020 Sep 14;75(8):1808-1817. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbz069.
Later life marital patterns have undergone shifts over the past few decades, including a rapid growth of cohabiting unions. Despite the increase in older adult cohabitation, research on this population has been slow to keep up. Intimate relationships are linked to well-being and relationship quality is especially important because high-quality relationships offer a number of benefits for well-being, whereas poor-quality relationships often are detrimental. This study compares cohabiting and remarried individuals on two measures of relationship quality.
Using data from the 2010 and 2012 Health and Retirement Study, I investigate the positive and negative relationship quality of cohabitors relative to their remarried counterparts and whether the association of union type and relationship quality varies by race.
Across both positive and negative relationship quality, I found few differences between cohabiting and remarried individuals. Black cohabitors report higher positive relationship quality than remarrieds, whereas White cohabitors and remarrieds do not differ.
These findings suggest that cohabiting unions and remarriages are comparable among White older adults, but that Black cohabitors may gain more in terms of positive relationship quality than their remarried counterparts.
在过去几十年里，晚年的婚姻模式发生了变化，包括同居伴侣关系的迅速增长。尽管老年人同居现象有所增加，但针对这一人群的研究却进展缓慢。亲密关系与幸福感相关，而关系质量尤为重要，因为高质量的关系能为幸福感带来诸多益处，而低质量的关系往往有害。本研究比较了同居者和再婚者在关系质量的两个衡量指标上的情况。
利用2010年和2012年健康与退休研究的数据，我调查了同居者相对于再婚者的积极和消极关系质量，以及伴侣关系类型与关系质量的关联是否因种族而异。
在积极和消极关系质量方面，我发现同居者和再婚者之间几乎没有差异。黑人同居者报告的积极关系质量高于再婚者，而白人同居者和再婚者则没有差异。
这些发现表明，在白人老年人中，同居伴侣关系和再婚关系具有可比性，但黑人同居者在积极关系质量方面可能比再婚者收获更多。
