Review of couple relationships in the middle and later years: their nature, complexity, and role in health and illness.

Abstract

America has an aging population. The US Bureau of the Census reports that by 2030, all members of the “baby boomer” cohort will be older than age 65. By 2035, people 65 years and older will outnumber those under age 18. In addition, persons reaching age 65 currently have an average life expectancy of an additional 19.5 years (20.6 years for females and 18.1 years for males). (U.S. Census Bureau, 2018) As the lifespan has increased for both women and men, the chances for involvement in new or longstanding traditional and nontraditional relationships have also increased. Recent years have witnessed a higher proportion of and more visibility among older adult couples involved in same-sex, living-apart-together, and later life cohabitation relationships. (Administration for Community Living, 2018; Agree, 2018) With these types of fluid social and demographic transformations in mind, an analysis of the nature and quality of older couple relationships seems appropriate. The current volume provides valuable insights and understanding into the complexity of these dyads. This book, edited by Jamila Bookwala, the Dean of the Faculty and Professor of Psychology at Lafayette College, is a remarkable undertaking. Dr. Bookwala’s scope of research interests is considerable, varied and timely, including prepared presentations and scholarly papers on stress and well-being in middle and late adulthood years; the role of psychosocial factors (such as close social relationships and psychological resources) in resilience to stress and well-being; and gender differences in stressors and resilience to stress. Dr. Bookwala is also interested in the impact of spousal illness/loss, family caregiving, disability/functional impairment, pain, stigma/discrimination, and negative interpersonal exchanges on stress and health. More recently, she has begun to explore happiness and the role of confidants in the well-being of older adults. This breadth of scholarly interests allowed Dr. Bookwala to invite contributions from an impressive, wide-ranging group of scholars. The resulting volume is a carefully selected set of readings on the topic of older couple relationships. There are two distinct parts to this compilation of national and international research reviews. Part 1 of the book broadly addresses the nature of older couple relationships. The nine chapters that comprise this section provide a firm foundation to allow a comprehensive examination of key aspects related to quality (or lack of quality) in relationship dyads. As Dr. Bookwala notes, marital quality is multidimensional, with both positive and negative aspects. Topics are included to reflect the complexity of both traditional and nontraditional older adult couple relationships. Chapters are devoted to thorough reviews of marital satisfaction/dissatisfaction during midlife; marital discord in later years; and a thoughtful analysis of loneliness even when involved in long-term marital relationships. Other topics investigated in this first section include separate, full chapters that provide in-depth explorations on the impact of retirement, sexual intimacy, and spousal roles in marital relationship quality; and detailed introductions to and development of the topics of living-alone-together relationships, as well as same-sex relationships in later years. The final topic in this first section focuses on the links between health and marital quality and represents a strong segue into Part 2. In the second section, Dr. Bookwala has assembled chapters on unique, cutting edge topics related to marriage and health and adaptation to illness such as an extensive study of marital history and biography that provides a unique perspective from which to view health in later life. Also considered