Who needs a friend? Marital status transitions and physical health outcomes in later life
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Abstract
- Objective: This study assessed the moderating role of 2 types of confidante relationships in mitigating the negative health impact of transitions involving spousal loss in late life (widowhood and divorce/separation). Method: The sample included 707 respondents who participated in the 1992 and 2004 waves of the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS, 2007) all of whom were married at Time 1 and by Time 2 experienced either an end of the marriage resulting from widowhood or divorce/separation or remained continuously married to the same spouse. The majority of the sample was female (n = 457) and 64.3 years old on average. Three indicators of physical health were examined, including somatic depressive symptomatology, self-rated health, and number of sick days in the preceding year. Results: Moderated regression analyses showed that the availability of a friend as confidante at Time 2 played a significant moderating role in the link between marital transitions and health outcomes, buffering the health impact of widowhood. Specifically, among those who became widowed between the 2 waves, those who had available a friend as confidante at Time 2 reported significantly lower somatic depressive symptoms, better self-rated health, and fewer sick days in bed during the preceding year than those who reported not having a friend as confidante. No support was obtained for the moderating role of having a family member as confidante at Time 2 in the link from marital transitions to health. Conclusions: These results highlight the need to develop means to maintain and enhance confiding friendships among widowed older adults.
| Title | Who needs a friend? Marital status transitions and physical health outcomes in later life |
|---|---|
| Creator | Bookwala, Jamila |
| Manning, S. W. | |
| Marshall, K. I. | |
| Publisher | Health Psychology |
| Academic Department | Psychology |
| Division | Social Sciences |
| Organization | Lafayette College |
| Date Issued | June 2014 |
| Date Available | 2014-08-27T19:27:50Z |
| Type | Article |
| Language | English |
| Keyword | marital status transitions |
| confidante relationships | |
| friendship | |
| physical health | |
| widowhood | |
| Bibliographic Citation | Bookwala, J., K. I. Marshall, and S. W. Manning (2014 Jun.) "Who needs a friend? Marital status transitions and physical health outcomes in later life." Health Psychology 33 (6): 505-515. |
| Standard Identifier | Handle 10385/1466 |
| DOI 10.1037/hea0000049 | |
| Permalink | http://hdl.handle.net/10385/1466 |
| Rights Statement |
In Copyright
|
| Rights Holders | American Psychological Association |
Contains
| File | Bookwala-HealthPsychology-vol33-2014.pdf | Uploaded 2019-10-20 | Public |
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