Department of Sociology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
Department of Sociology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
Soc Sci Med. 2021 Aug;282:114151. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114151. Epub 2021 Jun 18.
We provide one of the first national longitudinal studies of the association between trajectories of marital quality and cognitive functioning among older adults, with close attention paid to gender differences. Data were drawn from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) 2006-2016. Marital quality trajectories were assessed at three waves: 2006/2008, 2010/2012, and 2014/2016. Cognitive trajectories were assessed at five waves: 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016. The final analytic sample included 7901 respondents age 50 and older (4334 men and 3567 women) who were either married or cohabiting during the study period. Results from parallel linear growth curve models suggest that among older adults, initial positive marital quality was associated with better initial cognition, and initial negative marital quality was associated with worse initial cognition. Results from multiple group analysis further suggest that marital quality was significantly associated with men's cognitive trajectories but not women's. Among men, an increase in positive marital quality was associated with a slower rate of cognitive decline, whereas an increase in negative marital quality was associated with a faster rate of cognitive decline. These findings suggest that older men who experience a decline in marital quality may be vulnerable to cognitive decline and that reducing marital strain and improving marital quality may protect men's cognitive health in later life.
我们提供了第一项关于婚姻质量轨迹与老年人认知功能之间关联的全国性纵向研究之一，特别关注了性别差异。数据来自健康与退休研究（HRS）2006-2016 年的数据。婚姻质量轨迹在三个时间点进行评估：2006/2008 年、2010/2012 年和 2014/2016 年。认知轨迹在五个时间点进行评估：2008 年、2010 年、2012 年、2014 年和 2016 年。最终的分析样本包括 7901 名年龄在 50 岁及以上的受访者（4334 名男性和 3567 名女性），他们在研究期间已婚或同居。平行线性增长曲线模型的结果表明，在老年人中，初始积极的婚姻质量与更好的初始认知能力相关，而初始消极的婚姻质量与较差的初始认知能力相关。多组分析的结果进一步表明，婚姻质量与男性的认知轨迹显著相关，但与女性无关。对于男性来说，积极的婚姻质量增加与认知衰退速度较慢相关，而消极的婚姻质量增加与认知衰退速度较快相关。这些发现表明，婚姻质量下降的老年男性可能容易出现认知能力下降，而减少婚姻压力和提高婚姻质量可能会保护男性在晚年的认知健康。
