The Contribution of Stressful Marital Interactions to Loneliness and Health across Mid-life and Later Adulthood

Abstract

Although past research has noted longitudinal, and sometimes bi-directional, associations between marital interactions, loneliness, and physical health, previous work has not identified long-term associations and differential associations over life-course stages (i.e., mid-life and later adulthood). Utilizing a life-course stress process perspective and a sample of 250 couples in enduring marriages over 17 years (2001-2017), a structural equation model within a dyadic framework assessed the unique influences of stressful marital interactions on loneliness and physical health and the variation in bi-directional influences of loneliness and physical health over time. Marital interactions were relatively stable across life stages, yet marital interactions appear to influence loneliness and physical health. Notable distinctions were evident across life stages (from mid-life to later adulthood and then within later adulthood). Findings are discussed with an emphasis on the implications for health promotion and prevention programs targeting couples' quality of life in later years.

Keywords: later life; loneliness; marital conflict; marriage; physical health.

Figure 1.

Conceptual model detailing linkages between conflictual marital interactions, loneliness, and physical health from the mid-later years through later adulthood.

Figure 2.

A structural equation model assessing stressful marital interactions, physical health, and loneliness in enduring marriages over mid-later years and later adulthood. Unstandardized coefficients are shown with standard errors in parentheses. Broken lines indicate non-significant paths. Constructs at each time period were allowed to correlate. *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001.