A Dyadic Examination of Daily Health Symptoms and Emotional Well‐Being in Late‐Life Couples*

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3729.2006.00430.x
• Author: Shevaun D. Neupert,Lesa Hoffman,David Almeida,Avron Spiro,Jeremy B. Yorgason
• Published date: 01 December 2006
• Date: 01 December 2006

A Dyadic Examination of Daily Health Symptoms and

Emotional Well-Being in Late-Life Couples*

Jeremy B. Yorgason David Almeida Shevaun D. Neupert Avron Spiro III Lesa Hoffman**

Abstract: This study investigated the link between daily health symptoms and spousal emotional well-being in a sam-

ple of 96 older dyads. Higher negative mood and lower positive mood were associated with spousal symptoms in

couples wherein husbands or wives reported higher average levels of symptoms. For wives, partner effects were mod-

erated by husbands’ marital satisfaction and illness severity. Specifically, higher husband marital satisfaction and ill-

ness severity were associated with higher negative mood and lower positive mood for wives on days where husbands

reported higher symptom levels. In their work with later-life families, practitioners and educators should address

long-term and daily health-related relationship stressors.

Key Words: health, aging, dyads, marriage, daily diary, longitudinal.

One potential consequence of age-related declines

in health and physical functioning is a decrease in

emotional well-being (Meeks, Murrell, & Mehl,

2000). As health declines, depression and negative

affect tend to increase, whereas life satisfaction and

positive affect tend to decrease. These associations

exist contemporaneously (i.e., in cross-sectional stud-

ies; Vilhjalmsson, 1998), across several days (Larsen

& Kasimatis, 1991; Watson, 1988), across months

(Aneshensel, Frerichs, & Huba, 1984; Meeks et al.,

2000), and over the course of years (Heidrich &

Powwattana, 2004). Additionally, physical health

problems affect emotional well-being for adults of

various ages and for both men and women (Anes-

hensel et al., 1984; Meeks et al.; Vilhjalmsson).

Most investigations of the relationship between

health and well-being have focused on the

associations between health and emotional well-being

of individuals. However, individuals with health

problems are typically involved in a variety of relation-

ships (see Patterson & Garwick, 1994; Rolland &

Walsh, 2005). In couple relationships, the effects of

health problems of one spouse can influence the emo-

tional well-being of the other spouse (e.g., Bigatti &

Cronan, 2002). Although macrolinks between spou-

sal health and marital relationships have been exam-

ined longitudinally over a number of years (Booth &

Johnson, 1994), few investigators have explored the

microprocesses involved in couple relationships

when one spouse is sick. The purpose of the current

study was to explore the daily associations of health

symptoms and spousal affect for couples in later life,

as well as to examine how long-term stable charac-

teristics moderate this relationship.

*This research was supported in part by a training grant from the National Institute of Mental Health, T32 MH18904-18, Research Training in Mental Health and

Aging; by a grant from the National Institute on Aging (R01-AG18436) to Dan Mroczek; and by the Clinical Science Research and Development Service of the U.S.

Department of Veterans Affairs. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Department of Veterans

Affairs. The VA Normative Aging Study is supported by the Cooperative Studies Program/ERIC, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. This study is a research compo-

nent of the Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center (MAVERIC). The authors thank Amy Howerter, Joyce Serido, and Matt Strobl

for their assistance with data collection.

**Jeremy B. Yorgason is an Assistant Professor in the School of Family Life at Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602 (jeremy_yorgason@byu.edu). David

Almeida is an Associate Professor at the Department of Human Development and Family Studies, The Pennsylvania State University, 105 White Building, University

Park, PA 16802 (dma18@psu.edu). Shevaun D. Neupert is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Psychology, North Carolina State University, P.O. Box 7650,

Raleigh, NC 27695-7650 (shevaun_neupert@ncsu.edu). Avron Spiro III, Senior Research Scientist, Normative Aging Study, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston,

MA, and Departmentof Epidemiology, Boston UniversitySchool of Public Health, 150 South HuntingtonAvenue, Boston, MA 02130 (aspiro3@bu.edu). LesaHoffman

is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 238 Burnett Hall, Lincoln, NE 68588 (lhoffman@unlnotes.unl.edu).

Family Relations, 55 (December 2006), 613–624. Blackwell Publishing.

Copyright 2006 by the National Council on Family Relations.