Marital Satisfaction and Mental Health in Adults Over 40 Years Old. Associations with Self-Perceptions of Aging and Stress Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Being married has been associated with a better attitude to aging and a buffer against stressful situations, factors that influence mental health. The study analyzes the role of self-perceptions of aging and stress related to the COVID-19 pandemic in the association between marital satisfaction and participants' mental health. 246 people older than 40 years in a marital/partner relationship were assessed. A path analysis was tested, where self-perceptions of aging and stress from the COVID-19 situation were proposed as mechanisms of action in the association between marital satisfaction and anxious and depressive symptoms. Marital satisfaction, self-perceptions of aging, and stress associated with the COVID-19 pandemic significantly contributed to the model and explained 31% of the variance in participants´ anxious symptomatology, and 42% of the variance in depressive symptomatology. The indirect path of self-perceptions of aging and stress associated with the COVID-19 pandemic in the link between marital satisfaction and anxious and depressive symptoms was statistically significant for both outcome variables. The findings of this study suggest that lower perceived marital satisfaction is associated with higher levels of negative self-perceptions of aging and with higher anxiety and depressive symptoms. Public significance statements: This study suggests that higher marital satisfaction may be a buffer for negative self-perception of aging, and both factors are related with experiencing less stress from COVID-19. These links are associated with less anxious and depressive symptoms.

Validation of the Spanish version of the Three-Item Loneliness Scale

(Spanish) La Escala de Soledad de Tres Items (Three-Item Loneliness Scale, TIL) es un instrumento breve ampliamente utilizado para la evaluacion de la soledad. El proposito de este estudio fue analizar las propiedades psicometricas de la version espanola de la Escala TIL con datos de dos estudios diferentes. En el Estudio 1, 1,536 adultos con edades comprendidas entre 18 y 88 anos completaron una encuesta durante el periodo de confinamiento debido a la pandemia de la COVID-19. En el Estudio 2, 314 personas mayores con edades comprendidas entre 60 y 92 anos fueron evaluados antes del inicio de la pandemia del COVID-19. Se obtuvieron cargas factoriales significativas mediante el analisis factorial confirmatorio para ambas muestras. La consistencia interna para la escala en ambas muestras fue aceptable. Tambien se hallaron asociaciones positivas entre la Escala TIL y un item unico que media soledad y la sintomatologia depresiva y ansiosa. Los hallazgos respaldan el uso de la Escala TIL con las poblaciones hispanoparlantes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Validation Study of the Spanish Version of the Marital Satisfaction Questionnaire for Older Persons

Interpersonal relationship quality is relevant for older adults′ well-being and mental health. Studies focused on methods to evaluate marital satisfaction in older adults and the relationship of this variable with psychological correlates are scarce. This study examined the psychometric properties of the Spanish version (Castro-Díaz et al., 2012) of the Marital Satisfaction Questionnaire For Older Persons (MSQFOP;Haynes et al., 1992) in a sample of middle-aged and older adults from Spain. Participants were 130 individuals (60.8% women) 40 years or older (M= 60.31, SD=11) involved in a marital/partner relationship. The assessed variables were marital satisfaction (MSQFOP), marital warmth, positive emotions, frequency of arguments, perceived stress associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, and anxiety and depressive symptoms. The results from the exploratory factor analysis yielded a three factor structure (compatibility, communication, and sex) explaining 77.8% of the variance. Even though the factor structure was the same as that of the original version, some items loaded on other factors. The internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha) was 0.97. The results revealed significant (p < .001) positive associations between marital satisfaction, marital warmth, and positive emotions. In addition, significant negative associations were found between marital satisfaction and frequency of arguments, stress associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, and anxious and depressive symptomatology (p < .05). The findings suggest that Spanish version MSQFOP has good psychometric properties that recommend its use with middle-aged and older adults. Marital satisfaction seems to be a relevant construct for understanding stress, well-being, and mental health in middle-aged and older adults.