Multiple role occupancy and social participation among midlife wives and husbands in the United Kingdom

We investigated the relationship between intensive multiple role occupancy and one key dimension of well-being, social participation (i.e., frequency of participation in social and leisure activities and meeting friends or relatives). Moreover, we examined gender differences in the association between individual, spousal and couple intensive multiple role commitments and individual social participation. Our research is based on a sample of mid-life wives (45-59) and their husbands from the 2000 British Household Panel Study (BHPS). Our findings show that, among wives whose husbands were providing care to a dependent for 20 or more hours a week, there was a negative association with social and leisure activity participation, whereas husbands' level of participation in social and leisure activities was higher if their wives were in full-time paid work. We also found lower odds of meeting friends or relatives among wives and husbands in full-time employment, and higher odds of meeting friends and relatives among wives providing care for 20 or more hours a week. Our results will aid policy thinking in addressing how people can be best supported to balance work and family commitments in order to optimize different dimensions of well-being in later life and help alleviate the pressures associated with multiple-role occupancy in mid-life.     

The link between vision impairment and depressive symptomatology in late life: does having a partner matter?

Visual impairment contributes to poor mental health among older adults by restricting everyday functioning and participation. This study examined whether the negative link between vision impairment and depressive symptomatology was less severe among partnered than among single older adults. We merged data from a survey among people with vision impairment with a reference population from the most recent wave of the Danish Longitudinal Study of Ageing (DLSA) (N?=?5831 M_age?=?74.37, range: 65–97 years, 53.1% female), investigating whether paths from poor vision via three mediators—functional limitations, emotional support and participation in social activities—to depressive symptomatology differ by partnership status. Structural equation modeling suggested that the direct path from vision impairment to depressive symptomatology is more than twice as strong for single than for partnered older adults. Thus being partnered reduces the negative link from vision impairment to depressive symptomatology. However, the path from vision impairment to emotional support is significantly stronger among single than among partnered individuals. Thus negative spillover effects from the visual impairment on the non-impaired partner’s mental health may compromise that partner’s ability to provide emotional support. Taking into account both partnership status and the mental health of both partners may help professionals more precisely target interventions aimed at reducing the risk of depression in visually impaired older adults.

     

Quality of life determinants and hearing function in an elderly population: Osservatorio Geriatrico Campano Study Group

BACKGROUND: Hearing impairment (HI) is a very common condition in elderly people and the epidemiology together with hearing-related problems is still poorly investigated. Moreover, the cognitive status may be impaired in relation to hearing function. OBJECTIVE: The goal of the study was to evaluate: (a) the prevalence of HI in a random sample of elderly people aged 65 and over (n = 1,750) living in Campania, a region of southern Italy; (b) the cross-sectional relationship between hearing function and cognitive status and also depressive symptomatology and disability, and (c) to assess the role of hearing aids on depressive symptomatology. METHODS: Cross-sectional study on a random sample of elderly population. RESULTS: The overall participation rate in the study was 74.8% (n = 1,332, mean age was 74.2 +/- 6.4 years). The prevalence rate of HI (evaluated by questionnaire) was 27.2%, cognitive impairment prevalence (evaluated by the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE)) was 27.9%, mean depressive symptomatology score (evaluated by Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS)) was 11.4 +/- 6.6, while disability assessed by Activity of Daily Living (ADL) was present in 7.0% of the whole population. A strong relationship was found between both decreasing hearing function and MMSE decline, independently by the effect of age and education (r = 0.97; p < 0.01). A positive relationship (r = 0.85; p < 0.01) between GDS score and hearing function was also found. Moreover, at an increased level of hearing loss, a lower ADL score was recorded (r = 0.98; p < 0.01). Finally, the use of hearing aids reduced GDS score. In logistic regression analysis, gender, age and educational level indicate that hearing loss risk increased with age (odds ratio 1.60; 95% confidence interval 1.53-1.71), whereas education plays a protective role (odds ratio 0.75; 95% confidence interval 0.72-0.80). CONCLUSION: HI is very prevalent among elderly people and is associated with either cognitive impairment and/or depression and reduction of functional status. This study suggests that hearing aids may protect against cognitive impairment and disability, improving quality of life of aged people. Copyrightz1999S.KargerAG,Basel     

Anticipatory Socialization for Retirement: A Multilevel Dyadic Model

Role theory, widely used to examine human behavior, has often been used to describe the transition from work to retirement. Anticipatory socialization, a role theory concept, describes the process that occurs prior to role transitions and assists in that transition by helping individuals learn the norms for the new role. However, not all workers engage in retirement planning. Lack of retirement planning is of concern because those individuals who do not plan for major life transitions tend to be less successful in adjusting to role changes. Data from the Health and Retirement Study were used; selection criteria required participants to be age 45 or older, working full- or part-time, and have complete data for the study variables. Multilevel modeling results of dyadic data from the Health and Retirement Study (N?=?1,028 dual-earner couples) indicate that older age, being White, higher income, greater retirement wealth, and looking forward to retirement predicted greater anticipatory socialization (i.e., thinking about and discussing retirement) by both husbands and wives. For wives only, having a health problem limiting work, higher spouse occupational status, and having a spouse who was looking forward to retirement predicted more anticipatory socialization. For husbands only, higher education, higher depressive symptomatology, and lower occupational status predicted more anticipatory socialization. This study found evidence of spousal congruence, with husbands, on average, engaging in more anticipatory socialization than wives. These findings identify couples that could most benefit from targeted efforts to increase anticipatory socialization, which predicts better retirement adjustment and satisfaction.     

Leisure participation and satisfaction in two European communities

This paper compares participation in leisure activities in the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg and Thionville, France. Factors associated with participation in different types of leisure activities, including health, status, household structure, attitudes towards leisure, and perceptions about leisure facilities are examined for the two communities. The study also compares the contribution of participation in different activities to satisfaction in the two countries. Data are based on a questionnaire distributed to a random sample of 95 elderly individuals living in Luxembourg's urban areas and 100 in Thionville. In general, differences in factors associated with participation are greater between the two countries than among different activities within each country. The study concludes that elderly individuals derive different meaning from participation in leisure activities in Thionville and Luxembourg.     

Husbands and wives as caregivers: antecedents of depression and burden

Contrasting predictors of depression among 101 men and 214 women providing care to spouses suffering from Alzheimer's Disease indicated that the sole predictor for husbands was ill health, whereas for wives less emotional investment was also predictive. While there were no significant predictors for burden among husbands, for wives, burden was associated with poorer health, less emotional investment, greater spouse impairment, and provision of more assistance with tasks.     

Does type of disease matter? Gender differences among Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease spouse caregivers

PURPOSE OF STUDY: Mental health outcomes are widely reported among spouse caregivers, with wives generally faring worse than husbands. We hypothesized that gender differences would not be as strong in a cognitively intact group because caring for cognitively intact spouses may involve less severe reciprocity losses. We also examined gender differences in coping strategies within each group. DESIGN AND METHOD: 175 spouse caregivers for patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD; n = 88) and Parkinson's disease (PD; n = 87) were interviewed. Participants completed perceived stress (PSS), depression (CES-D), state anxiety (STAI, Form Y), and coping strategies (WCCL-R) measures. RESULTS: Wives in the AD group reported significantly worse mental health outcomes than husbands, while wives and husbands in the PD group showed no differences. AD caregiving wives were less likely than husbands to use problem-focused coping strategies. There were no significant gender differences in either group for social support or emotion-focused coping. IMPLICATIONS: Loss of reciprocity in marital relationships may affect women more negatively than men. Future studies that address underlying mechanisms of gender differences and focus on similar caregiving situations and contexts deserve attention.     

Spousal social activity trajectories in the Australian longitudinal study of ageing in the context of cognitive, physical, and affective resources

We examined the dyadic interdependence of spousal social activity trajectories over 11 years by using longitudinal data on 565 couples from the Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing (M age = 76 years at Time 1). Social activity trajectories were interrelated in elderly couples, and they depended not only on individual but also on spousal cognitive, physical, and affective resources at baseline. Most associations examined were similar in husbands and wives. However, wives performed more social activities and displayed different depression-social activity associations than did husbands. We found stronger within-couple associations in the domain of social activities than for cognition. Our findings illustrate the important role of social relationships for late-life development and suggest that the mechanisms involved in dyadic interdependencies may be domain and gender specific.     

Social support and depression among elderly Chinese people in Hong Kong.

This study examines the association between social support and depressive symptomatology in a representative community sample of 1106 Chinese people in Hong Kong aged sixty years or older. Significant bivariate relationships were found between depression and all dimensions of social support including social network size, network composition, social contact frequency, satisfaction of social support, instrumental/emotional support, and helping others. Using multiple regression models, the authors found that at least one measure of these six dimensions of social support was associated with depressive symptomatology, even after controlling for socio-demographic, and functional disability. We found that social support from family is important for elderly Chinese people in Hong Kong, and satisfaction with support is a more important predictor of depression levels than other objective measures of network relationships. Lastly, it was found that material aid and instrumental support is more important in preventing depression for elderly individuals in Hong Kong than emotional support.     

The effect of spousal mental and physical health on husbands' and wives' depressive symptoms, among older adults: longitudinal evidence from the Health and Retirement Survey

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the effect of spousal depressive symptoms and physical health on respondents' depressive symptoms in a national sample of older married couples. METHOD: We used data on 5,035 respondent husbands and wives from the 1992 and 1994 waves of the Health and Retirement Survey. Multivariate regression models were estimated to examine the impact of spousal depressive symptoms and physical health on respondents' depressive symptoms. RESULTS: Adjusting for respondent mental and physical health and sociodemographic traits, having a spouse with more depressive symptoms was associated with significantly higher follow-up depressive symptoms in the respondent (p < .001). Controlling for spousal depressive symptoms, a decline in the spouses' physical health was associated with a significant reduction in respondent depressive symptoms (p < .05). DISCUSSION: Our findings suggest that health care providers treating older adults should be sensitive to the possibility that spouses may be affected when clients suffer poor mental or physical health.     

Impact of husbands' involuntary job loss on wives' mental health,among older adults

OBJECTIVES: This study estimates the consequences of older husbands' involuntary job loss for their wives' mental health. METHODS: Using longitudinal data from the 1992, 1994, and 1996 waves of the Health and Retirement Study, multivariate regression models were estimated to measure the impact of older husbands' involuntary job loss on wives' mental health. We created two longitudinal data sets of two waves each to use in our analysis. The first data set, or period, combined Waves 1 and 2 of the Health and Retirement Study and described the 1992-1994 experience of spouse pairs in our sample. It included the wives of 55 husbands who experienced involuntary job loss between these survey dates and a comparison group of wives of 730 continuously employed husbands. The second data set described the 1994-1996 experience of couples. In particular, it included the wives of an additional 38 husbands who were displaced from their jobs between Waves 2 and 3, and a comparison group of wives of 425 husbands who were continuously employed from 1994 to 1996. RESULTS: Husbands' involuntary job loss did not have a statistically significant effect on wives' mental health. We found no evidence that changes in husbands' depressive symptoms modified the effect of his job loss on wives' mental health. In the first period only, the effect of husbands' job loss on wives' mental health was more pronounced for wives who were more financially satisfied at baseline. DISCUSSION: There is limited evidence among this cohort that husbands' job loss increases wives' subsequent depressive symptoms. However, the effect of husbands' job loss on wives' mental health appears to be magnified when wives report being financially satisfied pre-job loss. This suggests that, for subgroups of older couples, mental health services specifically targeted at displaced men should also be made available to wives.     

Marital aggression. Impact, injury, and health correlates for husbands and wives.

The overall aim of the current study was to comprehensively evaluate the prevalence, impact, and health correlates of marital aggression in a clinical sample of maritally discordant couples seeking psychological treatment. Participants were 93 consecutively presenting clinic couples and 16 maritally satisfied matched control couples from the community. Overall, 71% of clinic couples reported at least one act of marital aggression during the past year. Although 86% of the aggression reported was reciprocal between husbands and wives, impact and injuries sustained as a function of this aggression differed between husbands and wives. Specifically, wives were more likely than husbands to be negatively affected and to sustain severe injuries (eg, broken bones, broken teeth, or injury to sensory organs). Additionally, wives who experienced marital aggression reported clinical levels of depressive symptomatology. Recommendations are offered and risk markers are identified to improve detection by physicians of patients who may be involved in violent marriages.     

Evidence-Based Rehabilitation: A Guide to Practice by Mary Law and Joy MacDermid,Eds.

Is activity participation in old age important for survival independent of one's earlier history of participation? A nationally representative sample of 457 older persons was followed for 25 years with data from the Level-of-Living Survey and the SWEOLD study. Cox regressions showed that regardless of earlier activities and health, late-life leisure engagement was associated with enhanced survival, especially among men. Among women, earlier activities (study groups) also seem important, perhaps by providing social networks. Results suggest that it is worthwhile to encourage elderly people to participate in leisure activities and to facilitate their participation in the community even at high ages.     

Prevalence estimates and health-related correlates of cognitive impairment from a probability sample of community-residing Latino elders

OBJECTIVE: Prevalence estimates of cognitive impairment are provided from a probability sample of Latino elders, mostly Puerto Ricans. A profile of those with cognitive impairment is provided. Predictors of cognitive impairment and the association between depressive symptomatology and cognitive impairment are examined. METHOD: A prevalence survey was conducted among a community sample of 205 Latino elders in New York City, drawn from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Medicare beneficiary tape files. RESULTS: The prevalence ratio for cognitive impairment using scale-cut scores was 12%; the latent class estimate was .15 (SE = .025; 95% CI = .10 - .21). Individuals with cognitive impairment were older; had lower levels of education, income, and acculturation; and reported higher levels of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and depressive symptomatology. DISCUSSION: This study resulted in the identification of a cluster of socioeconomic, health, and mental health factors that may influence the functional ability of older Puerto Ricans.     

Gender differentials in cognitive impairment and decline of the oldest old in China

OBJECTIVE: Research in China has shown that women are significantly disadvantaged in cognitive functioning in old age. This article adds to this line of inquiry by examining gender differentials in the odds of having cognitive impairment at baseline and during follow-up among the Chinese oldest old, as well as the potential pathways linking gender and the likelihood of having cognitive impairment. METHODS: Using two waves (1998 and 2000) of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey, the researcher estimated logistic and multinomial regression models of cognitive impairment for a nationwide sample of people aged 80-105 years old (N = 8,291). RESULTS: Among the Chinese oldest old, women were at higher risk than men for having cognitive impairment both at baseline and during 2-year follow-up, controlling for age, activities of daily living disability, and rural residence. Women's disadvantages in socioeconomic status, social network, and participation in leisure activities partially accounted for the gender differentials in cognitive impairment. DISCUSSION: The findings suggest that oldest old Chinese women are a vulnerable group at higher risk for cognitive impairment than oldest old men. Closing gender disparities in formal education will significantly reduce the gender gap in cognitive impairment in old age.     

老年高血压患者心血管危险因素分层与认知功能障碍的相关性

目的探讨老年高血压患者心血管危险因素分层与认知功能障碍的关系。方法通过随机整群抽样的方法,选择西安地区老年高血压患者329例,根据心血管危险因素分层分为低危组62例,中危组77例,高危组108例,极高危组82例,又按简易智能状态检查量表(MMSE)评分分为认知功能正常组283例及认知功能障碍组46例。对不同分层及不同认知功能进行单因素及多因素分析。结果随着心血管危险程度的增加,低危组、中危组、高危组和极高危组的MMSE总分及各分项定向力、记忆力、回忆力、注意力、语言能力得分依次递减,差异有统计学意义;认知功能正常组与认知功能障碍组在年龄、职业、体育锻炼、做家务、参加社会活动、脑卒中及TG方面比较,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05,P<0.01);多因素回归分析显示,高龄、不参加体育锻炼、不做家务、不参加社会活动在2组间差异有统计学意义(P<0.05,P<0.01)。结论老年高血压患者随着心血管危险因素分层越高,认知功能障碍越重。高龄、不参加体育锻炼、不做家务、不参加社会活动是其认知功能障碍的重要危险因素。     

Social disengagement and incident cognitive decline in community-dwelling elderly persons.

BACKGROUND: Social engagement, which is defined as the maintenance of many social connections and a high level of participation in social activities, has been thought to prevent cognitive decline in elderly persons. However, few longitudinal studies of this relation have been done. OBJECTIVE: To determine the relation between social disengagement and incident cognitive decline in community-dwelling elderly persons. DESIGN: Cohort study. SETTING: New Haven, Connecticut. PARTICIPANTS: 2812 noninstitutionalized elderly persons (65 years of age or older) who were interviewed in their homes in 1982, 1985, 1988, and 1994. MEASUREMENTS: A global social disengagement scale was constructed from the following indicators: presence of a spouse, monthly visual contact with three or more relatives or friends, yearly nonvisual contact with 10 or more relatives or friends, attendance at religious services, group membership, and regular social activities. Cognitive function was assessed with the Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire. Response to the questionnaire was scored as high, medium, or low. Cognitive decline was defined as a transition to a lower category. RESULTS: Compared with persons who had five or six social ties, those who had no social ties were at increased risk for incident cognitive decline after adjustment for age, initial cognitive performance, sex, ethnicity, education, income, housing type, physical disability, cardiovascular profile, sensory impairment, symptoms of depression, smoking, alcohol use, and level of physical activity. The 3-year odds ratio was 2.24 (95% CI, 1.40 to 3.58; P < 0.001), the 6-year odds ratio was 1.91 (CI, 1.14 to 3.18; P = 0.01), and the 12-year odds ratio was 2.37 (CI, 1.07 to 4.88; P = 0.03). CONCLUSION: Social disengagement is a risk factor for cognitive impairment among elderly persons.     

Leisure participation and subjective well-being: Exploring gender differences among elderly in Shanghai,China

ObjectivesTo explore the association between leisure participation and subjective well-being and the role gender in this issue among elderly Chinese in Shanghai, China.MethodsPrincipal components analysis and logistic regressions are used to analyze the cross-sectional data of the 2013 Shanghai Elderly Life and Opinion Survey that contains 2884 respondents (60+ with a mean age of 72.6) recruited from a multistage cluster sampling design. Subjective well-being is measured by happiness and life satisfaction, and leisure participation is examined by the type and diversity of leisure activities.ResultsPrincipal components analysis identifies four major types of leisure activity that elderly Chinese are actively engaged in—detachment-recovery, aesthetic, social, and performing-arts activities. Among them, social activities and performing-arts activities have the most relevance to subjective well-being. Females are more likely to engage in social and performing-arts activities whereas males are more likely to engage in detachment-recovery and aesthetic activities. Performing-arts activities promote subjective well-being only for females. Social activities are beneficial for both gender groups, but more so for males than for females. While increased levels of leisure diversity are linearly related to increased odds of subjective well-being for females, moderate level of leisure diversity is found to be the most important for males.ConclusionsLeisure participation is positively related to subjective well-being among elderly Chinese, and thus could play a critical role in promoting healthy aging. The major gender differences as observed suggest the need to further explore gender-specific barriers in leisure participation.     

Social networks,social integration,and social engagement determine cognitive decline in community-dwelling Spanish older adults

OBJECTIVES: To examine the influence of social networks and social engagement on cognitive decline in a population-based cohort of elderly people, and to assess gender differences in the effect of social relations on cognition. METHODS: A longitudinal study of community-dwelling people over 65 was carried out. Cognitive function (orientation and memory) in 1997 and cognitive decline (absent, mild, and severe) over 4 years (1993-1997) were assessed using an instrument previously validated for populations with a low level of education. The effect of social networks, social integration, and social engagement with friends, children, and relatives on cognitive function and cognitive decline was estimated by multiple linear and logistic regressions after adjusting for age, sex, education, depressive symptoms, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and functional status. RESULTS: Poor social connections, infrequent participation in social activities, and social disengagement predict the risk of cognitive decline in elderly individuals. The probability of cognitive decline was lower for both men and women with a high frequency of visual contact with relatives and community social integration. Engagement with friends seemed to be protective for cognitive decline in women but not in men. DISCUSSION: This longitudinal study indicates that few social ties, poor integration, and social disengagement are risk factors for cognitive decline among community-dwelling elderly persons. The nature of the ties that influence cognition may vary in men and women.     

Social density, stressors, and depression: gender differences among the black elderly

This research examined gender differences with regard to the effects of social density and stressors upon depressive symptomatology among 600 Black elderly community residents (aged 55-85 years) of Nashville, Tennessee. The sample had more females than males and fewer married individuals. Approximately half of the males and females lived alone. Regression analyses show that poor ego and chronic medical problems were the common predictors of depression among both the males and females. Gender differences were found with regard to life events in that females tended to become more depressed as the number of events increased and as level of contact with relatives and friends decreased. Further, females with lower levels of social attachment, guidance, and reliability were more depressed. None of these social support dimensions related to depression among the males. These relationships tended to be stronger for those living alone than for those living with others.