Wickrama Kandauda A S, Lee Tae Kyoung, O'Neal Catherine Walker
The University of Georgia, USA.
University of Miami, USA.
J Soc Pers Relat. 2020 Mar 1;37(3):821-842. doi: 10.1177/0265407519879512. Epub 2019 Oct 10.
Although research suggests that stressful marital experiences may lead to feelings of loneliness in later life, little is known about the influence of marital strain over an extended period of time on loneliness in later years. Thus, in the present study, drawing from family systems and cognitive theories along with common fate and actor-partner interdependence modeling approaches, we hypothesized a hybrid model comprised of two multilevel pathways explaining the persistent influence of marital strain on loneliness, including: (a) a couple-level pathway and (b) an individual pathway involving within-spouse and between-spouse effects. Specifically, we investigated the influences of individual- and couple-level trajectories of marital strain over a period of 25 years (from 1991 to 2015) on loneliness outcomes in later years with a sample of 257 couples in enduring, long-term (over 40 years) marriages. The results mostly supported both hypothesized pathways. Consistent with the pathway involving a couple-level process, couple-level trajectories of marital strain predicted couples' later-life loneliness as reflected by both spouses' reports of loneliness (shared perceptions). In addition, at the individual level, each spouses' unexplained variances (unique perception) in marital strain trajectories predicted his/her own later-life loneliness outcomes (within-spouse effect or actor effect). Findings are discussed as they relate to intervention and prevention programs focusing on the well-being of married couples in later life.
尽管研究表明，紧张的婚姻经历可能会导致晚年的孤独感，但对于长期的婚姻压力对晚年孤独感的影响却知之甚少。因此，在本研究中，我们借鉴家庭系统理论和认知理论，以及共同命运和行为者-伴侣相互依赖建模方法，假设了一个混合模型，该模型由两条多层次路径组成，用以解释婚姻压力对孤独感的持续影响，包括：（a）夫妻层面的路径和（b）涉及配偶内部和配偶之间影响的个人路径。具体而言，我们以257对维持了40多年长久婚姻的夫妻为样本，研究了25年（从1991年到2015年）期间婚姻压力的个人层面和夫妻层面轨迹对晚年孤独感结果的影响。结果大多支持了这两条假设路径。与涉及夫妻层面过程的路径一致，婚姻压力的夫妻层面轨迹预测了夫妻晚年的孤独感，这体现在夫妻双方对孤独感的报告中（共同认知）。此外，在个人层面，婚姻压力轨迹中每个配偶无法解释的差异（独特认知）预测了其自己晚年的孤独感结果（配偶内部效应或行为者效应）。我们将结合针对晚年已婚夫妇幸福感的干预和预防项目来讨论这些发现。
