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People vary in the importance they ascribe to, and efforts they invest in, maintaining positive relationships with others. Research has linked such variation in interpersonal control strivings to the quality of social exchanges experienced, but little work has examined the predictors of interpersonal control strivings. Given the importance of close relationships in later life, this study examined conditions that might precipitate increases or declines in interpersonal control strivings over a 2-year period. Specifically, change in interpersonal control strivings was hypothesized to be particularly influenced by the interplay of two co-occurring conditions: 1) experiences in the social environment that bolster or undermine older adults' motivation to foster satisfying social ties and 2) the availability of personal resources to respond to these experiences. The findings suggest that a change in older adults' interpersonal control strivings over a 2-year period was affected jointly by the frequency with which they experienced positive social exchanges and their health status. Features of the social environment, therefore, may interact with personal resources to influence interpersonal control strivings in later life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Negative social exchanges with family, friends, and neighbors are known to be an important source of stress in daily life, and chronic stress is theorized to have especially potent impacts on health. Little is known about the health effects of stably high levels of negative social exchanges, however. In a national, longitudinal study of older adults (N = 666), we examined the association between stable negative social exchanges and health over a 2-year period. Trait-state-error models indicated that higher levels of stable negative social exchanges were significantly predictive of lower self-rated health, greater functional limitations, and a higher number of health conditions over 2 years after controlling for initial levels of health and sociodemographic variables. These results highlight the importance of examining continual and recurring interpersonal problems in efforts to understand the health effects of social relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the effects on older adults' psychological health of participation in a volunteer role that afforded opportunities to form friendships with age peers and to express nurturance toward another person. Access to these important social provisions was expected, in turn, to contribute to greater self-esteem, less loneliness, and less depression. The study hypotheses were tested by comparing older adults who served as foster grandparents to a developmentally disabled child (N = 52) with older adults in two comparison groups (Ns = 69, 59). Three assessments were conducted over a two-year period. The analyses revealed that the foster grandparents exhibited a significant increase in the number of new ties formed, but participation in the Foster Grandparent Program was not associated with the expected gains in emotional health. Explanations for the limited findings and implications for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: . Negative social exchanges detract considerably from older adults' emotional health, but little is known about the specific factors that make some older adults more vulnerable than others to such exchanges. This study examined whether stressful life experiences compound the impact of negative social exchanges on emotional distress. We examined both linear and nonlinear models of the joint effects of negative social exchanges and stressful life experiences. Methods. In-person interviews took place with a representative sample of 916 noninstitutionalized older adults. We examined linear and nonlinear models for three classes of stressful life experiences (relationship losses, disruptive events, and functional impairment). RESULT: . Regression analyses that included first-order and second-order interaction terms revealed a linear pattern for loss events and functional impairment, and a nonlinear pattern for disruptive events. Discussion. This study suggests that negative social exchanges and stressful life experiences jointly affect emotional distress, but the particular nature of the joint effects varies by type and level of stressor. Negative social exchanges appear to have more severe effects in the context of some stressors but less severe effects in the context of other stressors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Social networks undergo changes in later life, reflecting proactive decreases as well as increases in size, but relatively little is known about the factors that motivate older adults to expand their social ties. Loneliness might be expected to motivate older adults to expand their social ties. Paradoxically, however, studies of younger age groups have linked loneliness to a self-protective reluctance to initiate social contact. The current study investigated whether loneliness fosters or inhibits older adults' efforts to expand their social ties and whether successful efforts are related to gains in emotional health., Methods: Loneliness, motivation to expand social ties, and emotional health were assessed in a subset of older participants (N = 375) from the Later Life Study of Social Exchanges., Results: Greater loneliness was associated with less interest, less investment of effort, and less success in making new ties and rekindling dormant ties. Nonetheless, lonelier older adults who expanded their social ties, particularly by rekindling dormant ties, exhibited some gains in emotional health over a 1-year period., Discussion: Greater attention to the role of loneliness in older adults' motivations for making new ties or rekindling dormant ties will broaden our understanding of social network changes in later life., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Background: Diabetes-related multi-morbidity and cultural factors place Latinas with diabetes at increased risk for stress, which can threaten illness management. Families provide an ideal focus for interventions that seek to strengthen interpersonal resources for illness management and, in the process, to reduce stress. The current study sought to examine whether participating in a dyadic intervention was associated with reduced perceived stress and, furthermore, whether this association was mediated by persuasion and pressure, two forms of health-related social control., Method: Latina mothers with diabetes and their at-risk adult daughters participated in either (1) a dyadic intervention that encouraged constructive collaboration to improve health behaviors and reduce stress, or (2) a usual-care minimal control condition. Actor-partner interdependence model analysis was used to estimate the effect of the intervention on dyads' perceived stress, and mother-daughter ratings of health-related social control as potential mediators., Results: Results revealed that participating in the intervention was associated with significantly reduced perceived stress for daughters, but not for mothers (β =  - 3.00, p = 0.02; β =  - 0.57, p = 0.67, respectively). Analyses also indicated that the association between the intervention and perceived stress was mediated by persuasion, such that mothers' who experienced more health-related persuasion exhibited significantly less post-intervention perceived stress (indirect effect =  - 1.52, 95% CI = [- 3.12, - 0.39]). Pressure exerted by others, however, did not evidence a mediating mechanism for either mothers or daughters., Conclusion: These findings buttress existing research suggesting that persuasion, or others' attempts to increase participants' healthy behaviors in an uncritical way, may be a driving force in reducing perceived stress levels., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Objectives: Claims that the diversity of social ties matters more for health than the sheer number of ties have largely gone untested. This study accordingly compared the unique associations of number versus diversity of social ties with key health-related outcomes: functional limitations and leisure activities. Additionally, positive and ambivalent ties were distinguished., Methods: Social networks, health, and leisure activities were assessed in a national sample of older adults ( N = 874; ages 65-91)., Results: Regression analyses revealed that number of ties related to each outcome at a magnitude comparable to, or exceeding, that of diversity in most models. For positive ties, number related more strongly than diversity to greater leisure activities. For ambivalent ties, number related more strongly than diversity to worse functional limitations., Discussion: Contrary to prevailing views, diversity of ties is not necessarily more important than number of ties. Findings extend scientific understanding and approaches to interventions.

Objectives: Age-associated accelerated declines in physical health vary across individuals, and researchers have suggested that individual differences in decline may vary as a function of stressors. The relation of one such stressor, negative social exchanges, to accelerated declines in self-rated health is investigated., Method: Participants are from a 2-year, 5-wave, national, longitudinal study of social relationships among older adults. Growth curve analyses are used to examine the relation of negative and positive social exchanges to accelerated changes in self-rated health, controlling for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, and depressive symptoms., Results: Individuals reporting more frequent negative social exchanges showed significantly accelerated declines in physical health. Positive social exchanges were not related to linear or accelerated declines in self-rated health over time., Discussion: The association between negative social exchanges and accelerated deterioration in self-rated health provides general support for hypotheses that interpersonal stressors play an important role age-related physical health decline.

There is strong evidence linking relationships and emotions to physical health outcomes. What is critically missing is a more comprehensive understanding of how these important psychosocial factors influence disease over the lifespan. In this narrative review, existing lifespan models of social support and emotion regulation are reviewed and integrated into a general conceptual framework in the health domain. This integrated model takes into account bidirectional links between relationships and emotions, as well as health behaviors, biological pathways, and health. Evidence is consistent with the utility of an integrative model attempting to understand its links to health-relevant pathways and outcomes in older adults. Future work that examines multiple pathways using prospective designs will be necessary for this work to reach its full potential, including intervention and policy opportunities., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: Recently, there has been a call to better understand Latino health and arrive at effective approaches for achieving health equity via research focusing on the association between cultural factors and health. This study examined whether familism, a cultural value that emphasizes warm and close family relationships, would attenuate the negative effects that perceived stress, a psychological process that can worsen health, can have on two physical health indicators- number of health conditions and bodily pain., Method: Latina mothers (n = 85, M age = 52.68, SD = 6.60) with Type 2 diabetes and their daughters (n = 86, M age = 27.69, SD = 7.61) whose weight put them at risk for also developing the condition were recruited to take part in a larger intervention study aimed at improving weight loss/dietary intake. Participants completed measures of familism, perceived stress, health conditions, and bodily pain., Results: Results indicated that in the daughters, familism and perceived stress interacted to predict health conditions and bodily pain. As familism decreased, stress was associated with more health conditions and more bodily pain. These interactions were not significant for the mothers., Conclusions: First, familism has the potential to buffer the negative effect of stress in ways that are protective for health among Latinas at risk for diabetes. Second, this buffering effect has boundary conditions, suggesting that a better understanding is needed of how, for whom, and under what circumstances familism can be beneficial for health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Background: Half of Mexican-American women are under-active and nearly 78% are overweight/obese. The high lifetime risk of developing type 2 diabetes necessitates a culturally appropriate lifestyle intervention., Purpose: Unidas por la Vida is a novel dyadic intervention that capitalizes on the centrality of family in Latino culture to mobilize an existing family dyad as a resource for health behavior change. The intervention aims to improve health behaviors and promote weight loss in two at-risk members of the same family: mothers with type 2 diabetes and their overweight/obese adult daughters who are at risk for developing diabetes., Methods: Participants (N = 460 mother-adult daughter dyads) will be randomized into one of three conditions: 1) dyadic participation (mothers-daughters) in a lifestyle intervention; 2) individual participation (mothers alone; unrelated daughters alone) in a lifestyle intervention; and 3) mother-daughter dyads in a minimal intervention control group., Results: The primary outcome is weight loss. Secondary outcomes include physical activity, dietary intake, physiological measures (e.g. HbA1c), and body composition. Both the dyadic and individual interventions are expected to produce greater weight loss at 6, 12, and 18 months than those in minimal intervention control group, with women assigned to the dyadic intervention expected to lose more weight and to maintain the weight loss longer than women assigned to the individual intervention., Conclusion: Because health risks are often shared by multiple members of at-risk families, culturally appropriate, dyadic interventions have the potential to increase the success of behavior change efforts and to extend their reach to multiple family members., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT02741037., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The world is aging at an unprecedented rate, with older adults representing the fastest-growing segment of the population in most economically developed and developing countries. This demographic shift leaves much uncharted territory for researchers who study social relationships and health. Social relationships exert powerful influences on physical health in later adulthood, a critical consideration given age-related increases in the prevalence of chronic health conditions and physical disability. A large body of research indicates that older adults report greater satisfaction with their social networks than do younger adults, and that they often take measures to minimize their exposure to negative social encounters. These emotionally satisfying and generally positive social ties afford some health protection against a backdrop of mounting physical limitations and play an important role when juxtaposed with the potentially health-damaging frictions that sometimes emerge in older adults' social relationships. Although most older adults report that they are satisfied with their social ties, some older adults experience frequent conflicts or ambivalent exchanges with members of their social networks, and these experiences detract from their health. In addition, many older adults will experience the loss of one or more close relationships during the course of their lives, with ramifications for their health and, often, for the reorganization of their social lives over time. Understanding how both the strengths and vulnerabilities of close social relationships affect health and well-being in later life is an important goal, particularly in view of the accelerating rate of population aging worldwide. (PsycINFO Database Record, ((c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).)

Stress is associated with higher blood glucose in patients with diabetes, but the strength of this association varies considerably across patients. The current daily diary study of 129 patients with type 2 diabetes examined whether individual differences in emotional stress reactivity were associated with fasting blood glucose and whether emotional support provided by spouses moderated this association. Greater stress reactivity was related to greater variability in patients' fasting glucose readings and, among patients with less support, to higher fasting glucose levels. Investigating individual differences in emotional stress reactivity may help to clarify the role of stress in blood glucose control.

Objectives: The resource model of self-control posits that self-control is a finite resource that can be depleted. Individuals with diabetes must continually restrict their diet, requiring self-control. As a result, dietary adherence is difficult, and lapses are common. People with diabetes who overexert self-control following a lapse may be especially likely to experience a subsequent relapse, as suggested by the resource model. This investigation used the resource model of self-control to test whether overexertion of dietary self-control following a lapse would be predictive of a subsequent relapse in dietary control., Design: We tested this prediction in a daily diary study of 128 individuals with diabetes (Mage  = 66.12)., Methods: Participants' reports of their daily dietary adherence were used to define lapses in adherence, post-lapse adherence, and relapses., Results: Individuals who overexerted self-control after a lapse were more likely to experience a subsequent relapse (OR = 3.276, p = .016) and to do so sooner (HR = 2.12, p = .023)., Conclusions: People with diabetes may seek to compensate for a lapse in adherence by overexerting self-control, but doing so may deplete their self-control and increase the risk of a future relapse. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? The resource model of self-control posits that self-control is a limited resource that can be temporarily depleted. Numerous experimental studies have demonstrated support for this model showing that when participants are instructed to engage in a self-control task, they produce less self-control on a subsequent task. The majority of the existing studies are not conducted in naturalistic settings and do not use patient populations. What does this study add? This study is an ecologically valid test of the resource model of self-control. This study applies the resource model of self-control to a patient population., (© 2016 The British Psychological Society.)

Unlabelled: Healthy social relationships are important for maintaining mental and physical health in later life. Less social support, smaller social networks, and more negative social interactions have been linked to depression, poorer immune functioning, lower self-rated health, increased incidence of disease, and higher mortality. Overwhelming evidence suggests that communication disorders adversely affect social relationships. Much less is known about whether some or all aspects of social relationships are negatively affected by a communication disorder. The relative impact of a communication disorder on social relationships, as compared to other kinds of disability, is also poorly understood. Data were analyzed from a representative national sample of community-dwelling adults aged 65 and older living in the continental United States (n=742). Results from multiple regressions indicated that difficulty communicating was significantly associated with several parameters of social relationships even after controlling for age, gender, partnership status, health, functional limitations, and visual impairment. Communication difficulty was a significant predictor of smaller social network size, fewer positive social exchanges, less frequent participation in social activities, and higher levels of loneliness, but was not a significant predictor of negative social exchanges. These findings suggest that communication disorders may place older adults at increased risk for mental and physical health problems because of social isolation, reduced social participation, and higher rates of loneliness. In addition, it appears that communication disorders may have a greater impact on positive, rather than negative, aspects of social relationships., Learning Outcomes: As a result of this activity, the following learning outcomes will be realized: Readers will be able to (1) describe changes in the social relationships of older adults that occur as part of normal aging, (2) identify the aspects of social relationships that were significantly impacted by a communication difficulty, and (3) discuss possible reasons for these findings including potential clinical implications., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The current study investigated age differences and longitudinal change in mode effects, wherein individuals report less negative and more positive psychosocial functioning with data collection modes that have greater (vs. less) direct contact with interviewers (e.g., in-person interviews vs. telephone interviews). Using 2 longitudinal datasets, the Later Life Study of Social Exchanges (LLSSE) and Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging (SATSA), we tested how mode effects may vary with cohort (baseline age differences) and maturational development (longitudinal change). In Study 1, LLSSE participants (65-90 years old) completed in-person and telephone interviews assessing negative and positive aspects of psychosocial functioning across 2 years. The data collection mode with greater direct contact with interviewers (in-person interviews) was associated with reporting less negative and more positive psychosocial functioning compared to the mode with less direct contact (telephone interviews). These mode effects were more pronounced with older baseline age, but only for the negative psychosocial measures. Mode effects also became stronger over time for reports of negative affect. In Study 2, SATSA participants (38-86 years old) completed mailed questionnaires and questionnaires collected in-person that assessed depressive symptoms and positive affect across 18 years. Consistent with Study 1, participants reported fewer depressive symptoms and more positive affect with greater (vs. less) direct contact with interviewers (questionnaires collected in-person vs. mailed questionnaires). For reports of depressive symptoms, but not positive affect, mode effects were more pronounced with age and time. Together, the results underscore how mode effects may contribute to inconsistent findings in the socioemotional aging literature., ((c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).)

Social networks provide a mix of positive and negative experiences. Network members can provide help in times of need and day-to-day companionship, but they can also behave in ways that are inconsiderate, hurtful, or intrusive. Researchers must grapple with these dualities in order to develop a comprehensive understanding of how social network ties affect health and well-being. This article provides an overview of research that has examined the health-related effects of positive and negative aspects of social network involvement. If focuses on later life, a time when risks for declining health and for the loss or disruption of social relationships increase.

Objective: This study sought to evaluate the feasibility of a pilot, dyad-based lifestyle intervention, the Unidas por la Vida program, for improving weight loss and dietary intake among high-risk Mexican American mothers who have Type 2 diabetes and their overweight/obese adult daughters., Method: Mother-daughter dyads (N = 89) were recruited from two federally qualified health centers and randomly assigned to either the Unidas intervention or to the control condition. The 16-week Unidas intervention consisted of the following: (a) four group meetings, (b) eight home visits, and (c) booster telephone calls by a lifestyle community coach. The control condition consisted of educational materials mailed to participants' homes. Participants completed surveys at T1 (baseline) and T2 (16 weeks) that assessed various demographic, social network involvement, and dietary variables., Results: Unidas participants lost significantly more weight at T2 (p < .003) compared with the control participants. Furthermore, intervention participants also were more likely to be eating foods with lower glycemic load (p < .001) and less saturated fat (p = .004) at T2. Unidas participants also reported a significant increase in health-related social support and social control (persuasion control only) and a decrease in undermining., Conclusions: The Unidas program promoted weight loss and improved dietary intake, as well as changes in diet-related involvement of participants' social networks. The results from this study demonstrate that interventions that draw upon multiple people who share a health-risk have the potential to foster significant changes in lifestyle behaviors and in social network members' health-related involvement. Future research that builds on these findings is needed to elucidate the specific dyadic and social network processes that may drive health behavior change., (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.)

Current conceptualizations of the therapeutic alliance may not capture key features of therapeutic relationships in mandated treatment, which may extend beyond care (i.e., bond and affiliation) to include control (i.e., behavioral monitoring and influence). This study is designed to determine whether mandated treatment relationships involve greater control than traditional treatment relationships, and if so, whether this control covaries with reduced affiliation. In this study, 125 mental health court participants described the nature of their mandated treatment relationships using the INTREX (Benjamin, L., 2000, SASB/INTREX: Instructions for administering questionnaires, interpreting reports, and giving raters feedback (Unpublished manual). Salt Lake City, UT: University of Utah, Department of Psychology), a measure based on the interpersonal circumplex theory and assesses eight interpersonal clusters organized by orthogonal axes of affiliation and control. INTREX cluster scores were statistically compared to existing data from three separate voluntary treatment samples, and structural summary analyses were applied to distill the predominant theme of mandated treatment relationships. Compared with voluntary treatment relationships, mandated treatment relationships demonstrate greater therapist control and corresponding client submission. Nonetheless, the predominant theme of these relationships is affiliative and autonomy-granting. Although mandated treatment relationships involve significantly greater therapist control than traditional relationships, they remain largely affiliative and consistent with the principles of healthy adult attachment.

Marriage can enhance health for individuals with a chronic disease, yet spouses may also undermine disease management. The current study investigated spousal undermining of dietary regimen in 129 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. A total of 40 patients reported that their spouses tempted them with forbidden foods, and 15 reported that their spouses conveyed disregard for their diabetic diet. Spousal tempting was associated with worse dietary adherence, and spousal disregard with worse nondietary adherence. Spousal undermining is relatively rare but is associated with patients' disease management and warrants further investigation to better understand how spouses influence partners' day-to-day management of chronic diseases.

Objective: To investigate daily dietary adherence and diabetes-specific distress among older adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) as a function of spouses' diet-related support and diet-related control (persuasion and pressure) and whether these daily processes differ among couples who do and do not appraise responsibility for managing T2DM as shared., Methods: End-of-day diaries were completed by 126 couples in which one partner had T2DM (patient) and the other did not (spouse). Using electronic diary methods, each partner independently recorded data for 24 consecutive days (patients recorded their day's dietary adherence and diabetes-specific distress; spouses recorded their day's involvement in patients' dietary management). To assess dietary adherence, patients reported the extent to which they followed dietary recommendations that day with items from the Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities Measure. To assess diabetes-specific distress, patients reported the extent to which they worried about diabetes that day using items from the Problem Areas in Diabetes (PAID) scale., Results: Multilevel modeling revealed that, relative to the prior day, spouses' diet-related support was associated with increases in patients' adherence whereas diet-related persuasion and pressure were associated with decreases in adherence; spouses' pressure was associated with increases in patients' diabetes-specific distress. When partners appraised responsibility for managing T2DM as shared, support was associated with decreases in diabetes-specific distress; pressure was associated with decreases in adherence., Conclusions: Our findings offer insight into partners' day-to-day disease-related interactions and identify those that are likely to be beneficial versus detrimental for patients' physical and psychological health., ((PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).)

Spouses frequently attempt to influence (control) or support their chronically ill partners' adherence behaviors. Studies have documented effects of spousal control and support on chronically ill individuals, but little is known about how these two forms of involvement in a partner's disease management may be associated with spouses' stress or the quality of their interactions with their ill partners. The current study sought to address this gap by examining spouses' day-to-day involvement in their marital partner's management of type 2 diabetes (n = 129). Multilevel analyses of daily diary data revealed that on days when spouses exerted control, they reported more stress and more tense marital interactions, although these associations were more pronounced when patients exhibited poor adherence, had been ill for a longer period of time, and had more comorbid health conditions. On days when spouses provided support, in contrast, they reported less stress and more enjoyable marital interactions. The findings from the current study suggest that spouses' day-to-day stress and quality of interactions with their partners are associated with spouses' involvement in their partners' disease management, with health-related social control and support exhibiting distinctive associations.

Objectives: Spouses may be involved in their partner's diabetes management by providing social support to affirm healthy behaviors and social control to modify health behaviors. Yet, investigations of the influence of spousal involvement on daily patient health behaviors are limited. In daily diaries, we investigated how spousal support and control independently and jointly influence patient physical activity and efficacy to engage in physical exercise on a daily basis., Methods: Older adults (age 55 and older) with Type 2 diabetes and their spouses (N = 70 couples) completed electronic diaries for seven consecutive days that assessed spouse-reported involvement and patient-reported minutes of physical exercise and efficacy to engage in future physical exercise. A subset of patients (N = 53) also wore an activity monitoring device on the wrist that provided a measure of energy expenditure., Results: Multilevel analyses indicated that on a daily basis, spousal support was positively associated with physical activity, whereas spousal control was either unrelated or linked to less physical activity. On days in which spouses provided high levels of both support and control, however, patients felt more efficacious that day about exercising tomorrow and exhibited an increase in energy expenditure on the next day., Conclusions: Findings suggest that spousal exercise support on its own or in conjunction with spousal exercise control may facilitate daily diabetes management through physical activity., (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.)

Purpose: The current study examined the independent association between positive (e.g., emotional and instrumental support) and negative (e.g., insensitive behavior, unwanted advice from others) social exchanges and suicidal ideation among veterans referred for a behavioral health assessment., Methods: The sample included 606 veterans [mean age = 54.96 (SD = 14.96)] referred by primary care for a clinical mental health/substance abuse (MH/SA) assessment following a positive MH/SA screen. Data on sociodemographics, MH/SA conditions (e.g., depression, PTSD, anxiety, and alcohol abuse), the self-reported frequency of positive and negative social exchanges, and suicidal ideation were extracted from clinical interviews and evaluated., Results: Veterans were primarily male, non-married, and had adequate financial resources, and approximately half were White. 74.4 and 20.3% met criteria for a MH/SA condition and suicidal ideation, respectively. Multiple logistic regression analyses revealed that, adjusting for sociodemographics, physical functioning, and comorbid MH/SA conditions, veterans reporting more frequent negative exchanges with network members were significantly more likely to report suicidal ideation. Positive exchanges, in contrast, were not significantly related to the outcome. Inadequate finances and MH/SA conditions also were significantly related to suicidal ideation., Conclusions: Findings highlight the value of exploring the quality of social exchanges among veterans in primary care who screen positive for behavioral health issues, as such information has the potential to inform screening and intervention efforts aimed at reducing suicidal ideation.

The common-sense model posits that behavioural coping with illness is shaped by a complex combination of individuals' abstract and concrete beliefs about their illness. We investigated this theoretical assumption in a study of 116 older adults diagnosed with type 2 diabetes who completed in-person interviews at baseline and six and 12 months later. Specifically, we examined (1) the interaction of patients' abstract and concrete beliefs about the timeline of their diabetes as a predictor of change in adherence to a healthy diet and (2) whether these interactive effects differ among male and female patients. Abstract timeline beliefs were conceptualised as those pertaining to disease duration; concrete timeline beliefs were conceptualised as those pertaining to variability of disease symptoms (i.e. symptoms are stable versus fluctuating). As predicted, duration beliefs were positively associated with improvement in adherence among patients who viewed disease symptoms as stable, but not among those who viewed symptoms as variable. When gender was considered, these interactive effects were observed among male (but not female) patients. Findings revealed that the behavioural effects of men's abstract knowledge about their diabetes were conditioned by their concrete representations of the disease, suggesting a bottom-up process of influence with implications for intervention.

Older adults often seek to manage their social networks to foster positive interactions, but they nonetheless sometimes experience negative interactions that detract from their health and well-being. Negative interactions may occur with ambivalent social partners (i.e., partners involved in both positive and negative exchanges) or exclusively problematic social partners (i.e., partners involved in negative exchanges only), but conflicting views exist in the literature regarding which type of social partner is likely to be more detrimental to older adults' physical and emotional health. This study examined the implications of the two kinds of network members for physical and psychological health and interpersonal coping responses in a representative sample of 916 older adults. Analyses revealed that ambivalent social ties were more strongly related to functional health limitations than were exclusively problematic social ties, whereas problematic ties were more consistently related to psychological health than were ambivalent ties. Furthermore, negative exchanges that occurred with exclusively problematic social ties, compared to those that occurred with ambivalent social ties, were associated with more avoidant and fewer conciliatory coping responses, stronger and longer-lasting negative emotions, and lower perceived coping effectiveness. Within this elderly sample, older age was associated with having fewer ambivalent and exclusively problematic kin ties. A comprehensive understanding of the significance of social network ties in older adults' lives may benefit not only from attention to sources of social support but also from efforts to distinguish between different sources of conflict and disappointment., (2013 APA, all rights reserved)

For married patients, chronic illness management often includes involvement of their spouses. We examined expectations regarding spouse involvement in the health of a partner with type 2 diabetes (N = 139 couples) from the perspectives of the patient and spouse. Partners' dyadic expectations and spouses' gender were posited to moderate spouses' diet-related control and patients' diet adherence. Among male patients, when both partners shared an expectation for spouse involvement greater diet-related spouse control was associated with better diet adherence of patients. In contrast, when expectations for spouse involvement were not shared, greater spouse control by wives was associated with poorer diet adherence. Dyadic expectations for spouse involvement did not moderate the association between spouse control and diet adherence among female patients. Findings suggest that shared expectations for spouse involvement can facilitate spouses' attempts to improve patients' dietary adherence, especially among male patients and their wives.

Objectives: We investigated patients' difficulties in managing their diet (i.e. diet setbacks) and associations with change in disease-specific and general emotional distress (diabetes distress and depressive symptoms) among patients with type 2 diabetes and their spouses., Method: Data for this study were collected in couples' homes (N=115 couples) using structured interviews and self-administered questionnaires at three time points: baseline (T1), six months after baseline (T2) and 12 months after baseline (T3)., Results: Patients' diet setbacks were associated with an increase in their diabetes distress in the shorter-term (over six months). Patients' diet setbacks were not associated with longer-term change in diabetes distress or with change in depressive symptoms at either time point (six months or one year). In contrast, spouses' perceptions of patients' diet setbacks were associated with increases in their own diabetes distress at both time points (over six months and one year), and also with an increase in their depressive symptoms in the longer-term (over one year)., Conclusion: Findings reveal detrimental consequences of patients' diet nonadherence for emotional well-being that extend to the well-being of their spouses.

Spouses often seek to influence the health behaviors of chronically ill partners, but little research has examined whether spouses find such involvement to be burdensome. The current study examined this question in a sample of 191 nondiabetic spouses whose partners had type 2 diabetes. Results revealed that spouses who attempted to exert more control over their partners' dietary behavior experienced greater burden, particularly when their partners exhibited poor dietary adherence and reacted negatively to spouses' involvement. The findings contribute to a sparse body of knowledge on how spouses are affected by efforts to influence their chronically ill partners' disease management.

Spouses often monitor and seek to alter each other's health behavior, but such social control attempts can provoke behavioral resistance and emotional distress. Expectations regarding spouses' roles in their partners' health may influence reactions to spousal social control, with resistance and hostility less likely to occur among people who believe spouses should be involved in their partners' health. Evidence consistent with this idea emerged in a study of 191 patients with type 2 diabetes. Patients with greater expectations for spousal involvement (particularly females) generally reacted less negatively to spousal control. The findings help to clarify when people with a chronic illness are likely to resist and resent, rather than appreciate, spousal control.

Previous studies have demonstrated that functional limitations increase, and organizational volunteering decreases, the risk of mortality in later life. However, scant attention has been paid to investigating the joint effect of functional limitations and organizational volunteering on mortality. Accordingly, we tested the hypothesis that volunteering moderates the relation between functional limitations and risk of mortality. This prospective study used baseline survey data from a representative sample of 916 non-institutionalized adults 65 years old and older who lived in the continental United States. Data on mortality were extracted six years later from the National Death Index. Survival analyses revealed that functional limitations were associated with an increased risk of dying only among participants who never or almost never volunteered, suggesting that volunteering buffers the association between functional limitations and mortality. We conclude that although it may be more difficult for older adults with functional limitations to volunteer, they may receive important benefits from doing so., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

We investigated two types of negative and positive social control strategies, warning and encouragement, used by spouses to urge patients with type II diabetes to improve adherence to the diabetic diet. Warning refers to things a spouse may say or do to caution the patient about the consequences of eating a poor diet, and encouragement refers to things a spouse may say or do to promote healthier food choices by the patient. Our dyadic design (n=109 couples) assessed spouses' use of warning and encouragement (reported by spouses and by patients), as well as patients' reports of dietary adherence. Spouses being actively involved in patients' dietary choices was the largest category of open-ended descriptors of both warning and encouragement. Both spousal warning and encouragement were associated with patients' adherence to the recommended diabetic diet, with warning associated with poorer adherence and encouragement associated with better adherence. Moreover, it was the spouses' perceptions of their own influence attempts, and not patients' reports, that were consequential for patients' adherence. Patients' dietary behavior, and ultimately disease management, appears to be best served when the spouse uses more positively toned and less coercive influence attempts., (PsycINFO Database Record Copyright (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)

Although spousal support has been linked to positive outcomes in various health-related contexts, some research has found that the amount of social support provided to those who are chronically ill deteriorates over time. The current study refines the literature by considering multiple factors associated with spouses' provision of emotional support to partners with Type 2 diabetes. This diary study (N = 126 couples) examined the roles that stressor (disease severity and diabetes-specific anxiety), recipient (negative and positive affect), provider (negative and positive affect), and relationship (tension and enjoyment) factors play in spouses' provision of emotional support. Daily disease severity, patients' and spouses' daily negative affect, and spouses' daily relationship enjoyment were predictors of support provision. Wives, but not husbands, provided more support on days when patients experienced diabetes-specific anxiety. Results advance understanding of support provision in the context of a chronic stressor.

Gaps in social support resources in later life may arise when older adults lose social network members due to illness, death, or residential relocation. Gaps also may arise when social networks remain intact but are not well suited to meet older adults' intensifying support needs, such as needs for extended or highly personal instrumental support. Significant gaps in support resources are likely to require adaptive responses by older adults. This discussion highlights theoretical perspectives and illustrates empirical findings regarding the nature and effectiveness of older adults' responses to gaps in their social support resources. The literature examining these issues is relatively small and, as a result, is ripe for further development. Promising directions for future research are suggested.

Objective: The authors investigated health-related effects of social control (influence) that spouses exert in relation to osteoarthritis patients' medical adherence after total knee replacement surgery. Patients' behavioral and emotional responses to control were examined as mediators of associations between spouses' use of two control strategies (pressure, persuasion) and patients' physical and psychological recovery., Design: The authors used a three-wave panel design with assessments at one month before surgery, 1 month and 3 months after surgery. Data were collected during in-person interviews with 70 married, older adult patients., Main Outcome Measures: Recovery outcomes were assessed as improvement in knee limitations and depressive symptoms at the 3 month follow-up., Results: Spousal pressure and persuasion at one month postsurgery were indirectly associated with patients' recovery outcomes through patients' positive emotional responses to control., Conclusion: Although there are often immediate behavioral benefits in response to partners' use of both pressure and persuasion, the long-term health effects of these strategies seem to be accounted for by their opposing links to positive emotions. Findings further refine theory on health-related social control in marriage., ((c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved.)

Objectives: Various aspects of one's social ties are thought to influence the onset, progression, and course of disability in older adulthood. Although the longitudinal course of social ties and physical disability is likely to be marked by fluctuations over time and intraindividual variation, few studies have explored how patterns of change in positive and negative social exchanges relate to patterns of change in disability across time. The current study, therefore, examined the extent to which distinct longitudinal trajectories of positive and negative exchanges were associated with patterns of physical disability., Methods: We followed a sample of 482 community-dwelling older adults with little to no disability at baseline for 2 years., Results: Results identified multiple, distinct trajectory groups for positive and negative exchanges and disability. Latent class growth analyses revealed that individuals with chronically high or low positive exchanges were likely to experience low and increasing levels of disability. With respect to negative exchanges, individuals with moderately increasing negative exchanges showed patterns of increasing disability and disability remission, whereas chronically low or absent negative exchanges were associated with low and increasing levels of disability., Discussion: Findings highlight the importance of evaluating multiple trajectories of change in older adults' social exchanges and disability.

Objectives: Pain in older adulthood is correlated with both depressive symptomatology and positive and negative social exchanges, but the direction of these relationships remains unclear. This study investigated whether (a) pain is associated with increases in negative exchanges and decreases in positive exchanges and (b) negative exchanges play a greater role than positive exchanges in accounting for the association between pain and depressive symptomatology., Methods: Data were derived from the Later Life Study of Social Exchanges, a longitudinal survey of noninstitutionalized older adults. Interviews assessed participants' sociodemographic and biopsychosocial characteristics, as well as their interactions with network members., Results: Pain was significantly associated with negative exchanges, and both pain and negative exchanges predicted greater depressive symptomatology over time. Positive social exchanges, however, were not related to either pain or depression., Discussion: The findings underscore the value of examining older adults' social exchanges in efforts to understand pain-induced depressive symptomatology.

This study tested the hypothesis that the relation between extraversion and volunteering by older adults is fully mediated by social capital (participation in clubs and organizations, church attendance, and contact with friends). Data for this study come from 888 adults between the ages of 65-90 years old who participated in the Later Life Study of Social Exchanges (LLSSE). In support of our hypothesis, structural equation modeling revealed that extraversion exerted (a) a significant total effect on volunteering (.122), (b) significant indirect effects on volunteering via contact with friends (.042), church attendance (.034), and clubs and organizations (females only: .042), and (c) a non-significant direct effect on volunteering (.010). These findings suggest that social capital provides a viable explanation for the association between extraversion and volunteering.

Negative exchanges have been shown to detract from psychological well-being in later life, but little research has investigated how older adults respond to such exchanges. The authors examined older adults' coping responses, goals, and effectiveness following a specific negative social exchange. The findings revealed that participants' coping responses and the effectiveness of these responses varied as a function of their coping goals. The results underscore the importance of considering older adults' coping responses and goals when evaluating factors that affect the impact of negative social exchanges on well-being in later life.

The authors examined spouses' provision of health-related support and control as predictors of health behavior and mental health among patients participating in cardiac rehabilitation (N = 94 couples). Cross-sectional analyses revealed that spouses' support was positively associated with patient health behavior. Prospective analyses of change over 6 months (N = 65 couples) revealed that spouses' support predicted increased patient mental health, whereas spouses' control predicted decreased patient health behavior and mental health. Findings suggest that spouses' efforts to facilitate patients' healthy lifestyle behaviors are associated with patients' health behavior and mental health, but not always as spouses might intend., (((c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).)

Negative social exchanges have been more reliably related to psychological health than have positive social exchanges. Little research, however, has sought to understand how underlying appraisal processes link such exchanges to psychological health. This study examined the frequencies of occurrence and appraisals of four parallel domains of positive and negative exchanges in relation to positive well-being and psychological distress in a national sample of 916 older adults. Structural equation analyses revealed that negative exchanges were related both to less well-being and greater psychological distress, whereas positive exchanges were related only to positive well-being. Furthermore, results supported a process in which appraisals mediated the link between social exchanges and psychological health. This social appraisal process helps explain the disproportionate impact of negative exchanges on psychological health.

Although negative social exchanges detract from well-being, little is known about the factors that influence older adults' vulnerability to such exchanges. Interpersonal control strivings were examined as predictors of 2 dimensions of vulnerability to negative social exchanges, exposure and reactivity, in a nationally representative sample of older adults (N=916). Interpersonal control strivings refer to people's efforts to maintain harmony in their relationships and, when unsuccessful, to preserve their emotional health. The results revealed that interpersonal control strivings directed toward maintaining harmony were associated with less exposure, whereas interpersonal control strivings directed toward preserving emotional health when harmony is threatened were associated with less reactivity. Thus, complementary control processes play an important role in older adults' vulnerability to negative social exchanges., (copyright (c) 2004 APA, all rights reserved.)

The death of a spouse often requires widows to derive support from other people, but little is known about the adaptive significance of such substitute sources of support. Older women (N = 322) widowed 3-30 months were interviewed 7 times over 1 year to investigate social network substitution (derivation of support from alternative social ties) and compensation (derivation of psychological benefits from these alternative ties). Three forms of substitution (formation of new social ties, rekindling of dormant ties, and intensification of existing ties) varied with the duration of widowhood. Regardless of the duration of widowhood, however, greater substitution was related to worse psychological health. Social network substitution appears to occur in widowhood, but the compensatory benefits of substitute ties are more elusive., (Copyright 2004 American Psychological Association)

Researchers have expressed considerable interest in the question of whether positive or negative social exchanges more strongly affect psychological health, but previous studies have been limited by using nonparallel measures of positive and negative social exchanges, by measuring negative affect only, and by relying largely on cross-sectional designs. The independent effects of positive and negative exchanges on both positive and negative affect were examined in a short-term longitudinal study of 277 older adults, using social exchange measures with parallel content and equivalent reliability and validity. In cross-sectional analyses, positive exchanges predicted positive affect, and negative exchanges predicted negative affect. In longitudinal analyses, however, negative exchanges predicted both positive and negative affect, whereas positive exchanges were unrelated to either outcome. The more potent and longer-lasting effects of negative exchanges have important implications for theory and interventions.

Negative social exchanges have the potential to detract from well-being in later life, but the factors that influence older adults' vulnerability to such exchanges remain poorly understood. Two dimensions of vulnerability, exposure and reactivity, were investigated using daily diary data collected at two time points from a sample of community-residing older adults (N = 129). Three categories of predictors were examined: individual characteristics, life stress, and social network characteristics. Greater exposure to negative social exchanges was related to greater life stress and to less supportive networks. Greater reactivity was related to lower self-esteem, less supportive networks, less satisfying friendships and family relationships, and surprisingly, to less life stress. Longitudinal changes in exposure and reactivity were related to changes in friendship satisfaction, the positive functions performed by the network, and health status. The findings suggest that personal characteristics and life circumstances play a role in influencing older adults' vulnerability to negative social exchanges.

This study used an inductive approach to probe more deeply into the nature of negative interaction in late life. The data come from a nationwide longitudinal survey of older adults (N = 515). We began with two empirical observations and derived theoretical propositions from them that have not been explored extensively in mainstream gerontological research on negative interaction. First, the findings reveal that unpleasant interaction is quite stable over a 6-year period. This suggests that interpersonal difficulties are chronic stressors that may arise because at least some older people are involved in conflicted relationships that are difficult to terminate. The second empirical finding reveals that older adults who encounter interpersonal problems in one social relationship (e.g., with children) tend to encounter them in others as well (e.g., with friends). This suggests that some older people may play a role in creating the negative interactions they encounter.

Social isolation has been linked to a variety of adverse health outcomes, including cardiovascular disease. Researchers have attributed this association to the feelings of loneliness that accompany social isolation, but they have rarely assessed loneliness directly. In a sample of 180 older adults, feelings of loneliness and two kinds of social deficits that underlie loneliness--limited emotional support and limited companionship--were examined in relation to the likelihood of having a coronary condition. Potential physiological, behavioral, and affective mediators were examined as well. Greater loneliness was found to be associated with an increased probability of having a coronary condition, as were low levels of both emotional support and companionship. Mediators of these links were not identified, however, in this sample. These results underscore the value of examining the specific social deficits that underlie loneliness in investigations of the relation between loneliness and cardiovascular health in later life.

This study examines associations among social control, health behavior change, and psychological distress. Social control refers to interactions between social network members that entail regulation, influence, and constraint. Social control is predicted to have dual effects leading to better health practices while also arousing psychological distress. A random sample of 242 individuals answered questions about health practices, overall exposure to social control in their networks, and social control attempts made by a specific network member. Analyses yielded mixed support for the hypotheses, but analyses of responses to the social control attempts of a specific network member did reveal that social control predicted less health-compromising behavior and more health-enhancing behavior as well as more distress. The results suggest that social control warrants greater attention in efforts to understand how personal relationships influence health.