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Objectives: In the current study we used an integrated approach to late midlife sexuality. Using a biopsychosocial approach combined with spillover/crossover theory, we examined various common biological (feeling rested and physical intimacy), psychological (positive and negative mood), and social (giving and receiving support) daily processes linked with actor and partner daily physical intimacy. Methods: Data from 191 late midlife, heterosexual, White, couples (97% married, 3% cohabiting) across 14 days were used to examine our hypotheses. Participants had attended some college and about half lived in an urban area. Results: Results from dyadic logistic multilevel models suggest that even when accounting for all covariates, physical activity, positive mood, and both giving and receiving partner support were associated with an increased likelihood of daily physical intimacy. Differences in these associations were found for women compared to men. Discussion: Physical intimacy in late midlife is likely encouraged from a number of factors. Using simplistic designs may inhibit our understanding of important sexual interactions. When compared to health factors, relational factors appear to be more connected to physical intimacy. Physicians, therapists, and community educators can encourage late midlife couples to pay attention to the support they give and receive which may provide an important environment for sexual interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relational uncertainty is both prominent and pivotal during the transition from deployment to reintegration. Most prior research has considered the outcomes rather than the origins of relational uncertainty, hampering the development of interventions for military couples. We theorize about two predictors of relational uncertainty during the post-deployment transition: suspicion about a partner's deception and trust. Results of an 8-wave longitudinal study involving 287 U.S. military couples (N = 4,147 observations) revealed that relational uncertainty increased over the transition for both returning service members and at-home partners. Suspicion about a partner's deception, and particularly trust, predicted the relational uncertainty of military couples at homecoming and over time. These findings advance knowledge about the roots of relational uncertainty and suggest ways to assist military couples upon reunion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Adults in mid to later life experience shrinking social networks, which may hinder well-being. Siblings may be important sources of social contact. Yet, little is known about adults' patterns of contact with siblings and how contact is linked to well-being. Method Participants included 491 adults from across the United States (M age = 58.96, SD = 6.25; 68% female) recruited online via Amazon Mechanical Turk; they reported on their contact with their sibling in person, over the phone, via email, texting, and social media. Results Latent class analysis found evidence for four patterns of contact (classes) among siblings: low, medium, high, and traditional. Those with high contact reported greater life satisfaction than those in the other groups. Those in the high group reported lower self-rated health when they recalled being treated less favorably, relative to their sibling, by their mother as children. Discussion These findings suggest that differing patterns of sibling contact exist among older adults. In some cases, contact may promote well-being. In other cases, more contact may serve as a reminder of hurtful or painful past family experiences related to mothers' differential treatment, in which case more contact may be linked to poorer health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives To examine (a) the relationship between own depressive symptoms and spouses' health condition changes among mid- and later-life couples and (b) the roles of marital relationship quality and spousal caregiving in this relationship. Method Fixed-effect analyses were conducted using data from 3,055 couples aged 45 and older from Waves 1 (2006) to 4 (2012) of the Korean Longitudinal Study on Ageing. Results Spousal stroke was linked with higher depression symptoms. Spouses' onset of cancer was related to an increase in depressive symptoms for wives, but not for husbands. Spousal caregiving and marital satisfaction were significant moderators: Wives caring for spouses with cancer reported more depressive symptoms than those not providing care; husbands caring for spouses with lung disease reported more depressive symptoms than those not providing care. The associations between wives' heart disease, husbands' cancer diagnosis, and depressive symptoms were weaker for couples with higher marital satisfaction. Discussion The findings suggest variations across health condition types and gender. Relationship quality and caregiving are important contexts moderating the negative impact of spousal chronic illness on depression. Health care providers should be aware that spouses' health statuses are connected and that type of illness may affect the care context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Although research has investigated financial planning for retirement, less is known about how adults plan their retirement activities. Even less is known about couples' congruence and incongruence in retirement activities planning. The authors examined husband and wife reports of retirement plans across a 5-year period that involved a U.S. economic recession. Method Using data from 335 midlife couples who participated in the Flourishing Families project, retirement plans were grouped into five categories—family, leisure, volunteer, work, and uncertain. We estimated probit dyadic structural equation models to explore longitudinal predictors of retirement plans. Results Results indicated mean differences in retirement plans between husbands and wives, and also across time that might have been influenced by surrounding economics. Wife poor health, number of children, both spouses working, and financial assets were linked with the likelihood of reporting certainty in retirement plans. Greater retirement uncertainty was predicted by lower marital quality, higher financial adjustments, lower education, and ethnic diversity. Conclusion Husband and wife reports of retirement plans are not always congruent, and plans in retirement can be affected by large scale changes in the U.S. economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To examine how often early‐married couples have participated in marital interventions and how helpful and change‐producing these interventions are perceived to be in a national probability sample. Background: Past research provides an unclear view of frequency of participation in marital interventions yet suggests that participation is both helpful and change‐producing. However, these studies are limited by their demographics, regions, and samples. A nationally representative, population‐level study of newlywed couples would help overcome these limitations and provide generalizable answers to the field. Method: A sample of 1,562 individuals who indicated participation in a marriage intervention either before or after marriage was drawn from a nationally representative sample known as the Couple Relationships and Transition Experiences (CREATE) survey. Multilevel models were used to address the research questions. Results: Just under 2 in 5 (38.3%) early‐married individuals participated in an intervention designed to prepare for or strengthen their marriage. Counseling was perceived to be the most helpful and change‐producing intervention, with religiosity, education, and gender moderating this association. Conclusion: This study provides a first‐of‐its‐kind national picture of participation rates and perceptions of the effectiveness of marriage interventions among early‐married couples. Implications: Findings may help energize marketing and outreach efforts and may encourage varied strategies to increase participation rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Problem: Artificial intelligence (AI) can be helpful to older adults, al lowing them to accomplish both simple everyday tasks and important activities of daily living. Despite the potential benefits of AI, older adults may face some challen ges in using this emerging technology. The Resolution: The purpose of this commentary is to explore both the benefits and challenges of AI use by community-dwelling seniors, to assist senior living communities and caregivers in making decisions about AI use, and to provide some recommendations for AI use in long-term care. Tips for Success: Evaluate prior AI use by older adults and consider encouraging AI use that is familiar and accessible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The objective of this study was to test whether the therapeutic alliance mediated the relationship between previously identified predictors of premature termination and dropout during the first three sessions of treatment. Method: In this naturalistic study, 994 cases receiving individual, couple and family, or high-conflict coparenting therapy provided demographic information and completed assessments prior to treatment. Following the first session, clients completed a measure of the therapeutic alliance. Two hundred and five (20.6%) discontinued therapy prior to the fourth session. Logistic and ordinary least squares regression was used across m = 20 imputed datasets to examine the effect of pressure to attend therapy, age, gender, education, distress, therapy format, and therapist experience on whether clients continued in therapy and whether the alliance mediated this relationship. Results: After controlling for age, therapist experience, education, and pressure to attend therapy; general distress and participating in high-conflict coparenting were associated with higher rates of early termination. The effect of both distress and therapy format on dropout, however, was mediated by the therapeutic alliance. Conclusions: By focusing on improving the therapeutic alliance with high-conflict coparenting cases as well as clients with higher levels of distress, therapists may be able to increase client retention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Understanding the factors that predict the reintegration difficulty of military couples during the postdeployment transition has important implications for theory, research, and practice. Building on the logic of the relational turbulence model, this paper evaluates the relationship processes of reunion uncertainty and reintegration interference from a partner as mediators of the connection between people's mental health symptoms and their difficulty with reintegration after deployment. Method: Dyadic longitudinal data were collected from 555 US military couples once per month for 8 consecutive months. Results: Findings mapped the trajectory of reintegration difficulty and suggested reunion uncertainty and reintegration interference from a partner as mediators of the link between people's depressive and posttraumatic stress symptoms and the magnitude of their reintegration difficulty. Conclusion: These results highlight relationship processes as a key domain of intervention to preserve the well‐being of military couples during the postdeployment transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose of the study: Sleep is a key factor in maintaining positive health and well-being throughout life. Although the negative outcomes of sleep problems are becoming better understood, less is known about how intergenerational relationships might affect sleep. Thus, this investigation examines the dyadic associations of support for, stress over, and worrying about adult children on sleep quality for husbands and wives. Design and Methods: The sample included 186 heterosexual married couples drawn from the Family Exchanges Study. To account for nonindependence in the dyadic data and explore questions of mutual influence, we used actor--partner interdependence models. Results: Husbands' and wives' reports of supporting their adult child and husbands' worry were associated with husbands' sleep quality. Conversely, wives' stress about supporting their adult child was associated with wives' sleep quality. Findings suggest that relationships with adult children have different associations for sleep quality among middle-aged husbands and wives. Implications: Our findings have implications for health-related research with couples and families and for providers who work with individuals struggling with sleep problems. Assisting aging parents to be aware of and manage ways that stress, support, and concern for adult children relate to their sleep may benefit them in multifaceted ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study sought to examine the relationship between perception of parents' marriage, marital satisfaction, and attachment behaviors. Participants included 521 married couples taken from the RELATE project. Gender differences were found between husbands and wives perception of parents' marriage and marital satisfaction. Results also indicated that attachment behaviors were positively and significantly related to increased martial satisfaction for both husbands and wives. Additionally, attachment behaviors moderated the relationship between perception of parents' marriage and marital satisfaction. When perception of parents' marriage was negative but attachment behaviors were high, marital satisfaction increased. These findings underscore the importance attachment behaviors play in married relationships. Clinical implications and future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Sleep problems increase in later life. Studies have linked sleep with marital satisfaction, yet mechanisms, such as mood, have not been explored. The current study is innovative in examining sleep and marital interactions among older couples in a daily context, exploring mood as a potential mediator. Method: Data were taken from the Life and Family Legacies Daily Experiences Study, involving 191 older couples surveyed across 14 days. Multivariate (dyadic) multilevel models were used to address our research questions. Results: Findings indicated significant associations between daily sleep hours, sleep quality, and feeling rested with daily marital interactions. These associations were most consistent for wives. Mediation analyses indicated that positive mood was a common mechanism linking sleep with marital interactions. Also, in some cases, spouse sleep and mood reports were associated with partner marital interactions. Discussion: Improving sleep quality among older couples could lead to better daily marital interactions through changes in mood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]