Interpersonal and psychological correlates of marital dissatisfaction in late life: A review

Developmental studies suggest that marital quality improves in old age (e.g , Guilford & Bengtson, 1979). However, many of the studies are replete with sampling biases that probably led to an overinflated positive report of ma rital satisfaction in older adults. Our review evaluated contemporary studi es that have investigated interpersonal and psychological factors associate d with dissatisfaction in long-term marriages. Recent investigations indica te that older marriages benefit from lower levels of conflict and greater s ources of mutual pleasure following child-rearing cessation. Studies of soc ial support in long-term marriages suggest that perceptions of spousal supp ort are more strongly related to marital satisfaction and general well-bein g for older women than for men. A few investigations have found a significa nt relationship between depression and marital discord in older adult sampl es, and the causal flow between these two variables appears to be unidirect ional in that depression has a detrimental impact on late-life marital qual ity. Indeed, depression has been found to mediate the link between many age -related stressors (e.g., ill health, retirement) and declines in marital a djustment. However, our preliminary analysis of marital adjustment within a depressed, older adult, outpatient sample of married individuals did not c onfirm statistically that marital discord is associated with depressive sym ptomatology. This, in part, was attributed to the very narrow range of olde r adults sampled (i.e., clinic patients suffering from depression). However , the majority of depressives characterized their marriages as discordant. The implications for these findings are discussed and future directions are offered. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd.