One Line of Sexual Decline? Growth Mixture Modeling for Midlife Sexual Satisfaction.

Most research has shown that sexual satisfaction in long-term relationships tends to decline over time. Studies showing the average trajectory, however, are limited by only assessing one slope. With longitudinal data from the Flourishing Families Project, Marital Instability Dataset, and the Iowa Youth and Families Project, we utilized growth mixture modeling to assess what trajectories of sexual satisfaction exist in midlife marriages. In the three samples (one individual, two dyadic), we found clear evidence for heterogeneous sexual satisfaction trajectories, for both wives and husbands. Through the datasets, we found some trajectories did decline over time. We also found stably high, stably medium, stably low, and some trajectories that showed an increase in sexual satisfaction over time. Overall, trajectories were similar for wives and husbands, though some classes had one partner with variability while the other was stable, some classes had trajectories with wives having higher sexual satisfaction than husbands, and some classes had trajectories with husbands having higher sexual satisfaction than wives. Demographic variables were not strong distinguishers of these differing trajectories. Both marital satisfaction and perceived marital stability trajectories (based on sexual satisfaction classes) generally had similar patterns to sexual satisfaction trajectories, with a few exceptions. Both marital satisfaction and perceived marital stability were less likely to significantly change over time, have discrepancies between wives and husbands, and have either low marital satisfaction or high perceived marital instability, even if sexual satisfaction was low. These data can help couples recognize various possibilities for sexual satisfaction over time, perhaps helping them to avoid cultural myths of inevitably declining sexual satisfaction.

The biopsychosocial associations between marital hostility and physical health of middle-aged couples.

The aim of the current study was to investigate bio-psycho-behavioral associations between marital distress and the physical health of couples, with two different aspects of physical health outcomes receiving attention: physical illness and physical functional impairments over the middle years. Using an actor-partner interdependence model within a longitudinal approach and data from married heterosexual couples in enduring marriages (N = 370 dyads), we examined the mediating pathways which reflected biopsychosocial processes and addressed how trajectories spousal hostility may contribute to husbands' and wives' later health. The results indicated that hostile marital interactions in the early middle years could wear down couples' regulatory systems through greater psychological distress, more health-risk behaviors, and a higher body mass index (BMI), which in turn increased vulnerability to later physical health problems for both husbands and wives. For both husbands and wives, their evolved psychological distress influenced by both their own and their spouse's perceived spousal hostile behaviors, supported the stress-related dyadic process in the couples. The findings also emphasized the salient role of psychological distress in leading not only to an increased risk of physical illness directly but also to a higher risk of physical impairment through increased levels of BMI for both husbands and wives. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Life Course Patterns of Concurrent Trajectories of BMI and Affective Symptoms of Rural Mothers: Socioeconomic Antecedents and Disease Outcomes in Later Life.

OBJECTIVES: The current study, using prospective data over 25 years (1991-2015), concurrently investigates patterns of body mass index (BMI) and affective symptom trajectories in middle-aged mothers and the socioeconomic antecedents and disease outcomes of these patterns. METHOD: Growth mixture modeling was used to identify latent classes of conjoint health risk trajectories (BMI, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms) from 1991 to 2001. For each latent class, we identified mean trajectories of each health risk. Then, analyses were conducted identifying how these conjoint health risk classes were associated with respondents' socioeconomic background profiles in 1991 and subsequent chronic health problems in 2015. RESULTS: Socioeconomic background profiles were significantly associated with initially high-risk trajectories. There was a statistically significant association between membership in certain classes of conjoint trajectories and physical health outcomes in later years. Consistent patterns of association with changes in different health outcomes including onset of diseases were observed when classes of conjoint risk trajectories are examined. DISCUSSION: The identification of members of various conjoint risk trajectory groups provides a potentially useful prognostic tool for early preventive intervention efforts, treatment, and policy formation. Such interventions should promote and develop resiliency factors, thereby aiding in the redirection of middle-aged women's adverse risk trajectories.

Marital processes linking economic hardship to mental health: The role of neurotic vulnerability.

Both enduring neurotic vulnerabilities and economic hardship have been shown to negatively influence marital behaviors, which have physical and mental health consequences. However, because most previous research is fragmented and has focused on the early years of marriage or relatively short periods of time, their long-term effects are unclear. Using data from the Iowa Midlife Transitions Project, with a sample of 370 married couples providing data from 1991 to 2001, we assessed enduring personal and couple vulnerabilities, trajectories of family economic hardship, and couples' marital hostility using a comprehensive dyadic model to ascertain their influence on subsequent mental health. Couple marital hostility trajectories and neurotic vulnerabilities (both additively and interactively) were associated with changes in both spouses' depressive symptoms. Results also indicated that couples' marital hostility trajectories link trajectories of family economic hardship to subsequent changes in husbands' and wives' depressive symptoms. Last, associations between economic hardship trajectories, marital hostility trajectories, and depressive symptoms were moderated by couples' neurotic vulnerability as captured by a product term of husbands' and wives' neurotic vulnerability. In general, these associations were amplified for couples with a high level of couple vulnerability and weakened (or altogether absent) for those with a low level of vulnerability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

The influence of mastery on mother's health in middle years: Moderating role of stressful life context.

Using data from 416 middle-aged mothers gathered over the course of a decade, this study examined the influence of mastery trajectories (the initial level and change), on change in physical health. Mastery is defined as one's ability to control and influence his/her life and environment to reach a desired outcome or goal. Both the initial level and change in mastery from 1991 to 1994 were associated with decreased physical health problems over the middle years (1991-2001). Contextual moderation of this association by stressful life contexts including negative life events and work-family conflict was investigated. Moderation analysis showed that under conditions of low contextual life stressors, the level and increase in mastery significantly contributed to decreases in physical health problems in middle-aged mothers. Alternatively, conditions of high contextual life stressors inhibited the ability of mastery to influence physical health of mothers, suggesting that the positive health impact of mastery on physical health is mitigated by stressful life experiences. Implications for the need to maintain important personal resources, such as mastery, during times of stress are discussed.

The decade-long effect of work insecurity on husbands' and wives' midlife health mediated by anxiety: A dyadic analysis.

Although the detrimental physical health effects of work insecurity have been noted in previous research, less is known about the mediating processes, such as anxiety symptoms, that link work insecurity to physical health. Even less research has explored these effects at specific life stages and how these effects may impact significant others, even though the impact of this stress may vary across the life course and the mutual influences between married partners may cause dyadic effects stemming from partners' work insecurity. To fill these gaps, the current study incorporates theories that emphasize the stress-work connection, such as stress appraisal theory (Lazarus, 1999) and resource conservation theory (Hobfoll, 1989), into a neurobiological stress-health perspective. This study uses a sample of 330 consistently married, dual-earner husbands and wives who provided data at multiple time points over a 10-year period from 1991 to 2001. Results from a model including growth curves of work insecurity and anxiety symptoms when respondents were in their early middle years and reports of physical illness in their later middle years generally supported the hypothesized model. Both the level and rate of change in work insecurity were related to the change in anxiety symptoms over time. Similarly, the level and rate of change in anxiety symptoms from 1991 to 1994 were linked to subsequent illness years later in 2001. There was only partial support for the existence of partner effects. Findings are discussed as they relate to previous research as well as policy and clinical implications. (PsycINFO Database Record

Stressful Work Trajectories and Depressive Symptoms in Middle-Aged Couples: Moderating Effect of Marital Warmth.

OBJECTIVES: The present study investigated the decade-long actor and partner infleunces between husbands' and wives' trajectories of stressful work conditions (SWCs) and their depressive symptoms while also considering the moderation of these influences by spousal warmth. METHODS: Participants were 330 middle-aged dual-earner couples from the Iowa Midlife Transitions Project. Husbands and wives reported on own SWCs and reported on parenter's warmth in the years of 1991, 1992, and 1994. Depressive symptoms for husbands and wives were measured by the SCL-90-R in 1994 and 2001. Structural equation models, growth curves, and longitudinal data were used to perform our analyses. RESULTS: For husbands and wives, trajectories of SWCs over early middle years (1991-1994) contributed to depressive symptoms in 1994. Notably, for husbands and wives, the severity (level) of SWCs in 1991 had a persistent influence on depressive symptoms a decade later (2001). For husbands, under conditions of wives' low warmth, SWCs exerted a relatively strong influence on their depressive symptoms. However, under conditions of high warmth from wives, most of these influences were greatly diminished. DISCUSSION: Results from the current study indicate that contextual life experiences can have a persistent health influences over the life course.

Antecedents of transition patterns of depressive symptom trajectories from adolescence to young adulthood.

This study examined (a) transition patterns from adolescent-specific depressive symptom trajectory classes to young adult-specific trajectory classes (N = 537; 15-26 years) and (b) identified risk factors associated with these transition patterns. The latent classes and transition analyses identified three transitional patterns of depressive symptom trajectories, including a deteriorating pattern (8.2%), a recovering pattern (22.5%), and a consistently low pattern (69.3%). Additionally, the results showed that contextual risk factors (i.e., negative economic events, negative romantic relationships, and low college enrolment rates) in the transition period to young adulthood were more positively associated with deteriorated or recovered transition patterns of depressive symptom trajectories than with the consistently low transition patterns even after taking into account the effects of adolescent risk factors. The identification of dynamic transition patterns in depressive symptom trajectories from adolescence to young adulthood and risk factors provide useful tools for preventive and intervention efforts. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Heterogeneous trajectories of depressive symptoms across adolescence and young adulthood have been reported. Psychosocial characteristics differentiate trajectories of depressive symptoms from adolescence to young adulthood. What does this study add? Dynamic transition patterns of depressive symptom trajectories are found between adolescence and young adulthood. Life experiences in the transition period are uniquely associated with the transition patterns of depressive symptom trajectories even after adjusting the effects of adolescent characteristics.

Family hostility and depressive symptoms in middle-aged couples: Moderating effect of marital integration.

This study examined (a) the associations between family hostility (husband-wife marital hostility and child hostility) and middle-aged husbands' and wives' depressive symptoms over an 11-year time period and (b) the moderating influence of couples' marital integration on these associations as measured by their joint activity. Higher order family-level latent constructs captured chronic husband-wife (marital) hostility using husbands' and wives' reports of chronic hostile interactions from 1990 to 1992, while a higher order latent construct of chronic child hostility toward parents was measured using parental reports of children's hostile behaviors from 1990 to 1992. Structural equation modeling with data from 370 families depicted the longitudinal impact of family hostility on depressive symptoms of both husbands and wives in 2001 after accounting for earlier levels of depressive symptoms in 1991. Separate models were fit for couples with high and low levels of marital integration. For couples who experienced low levels of marital integration, chronic marital hostility and child hostility were related to depressive symptoms in husbands and wives. However, for those with high marital integration, these influences were largely diminished. (PsycINFO Database Record

Social stratification of general psychopathology trajectories and young adult social outcomes: A second-order growth mixture analysis over the early life course.

BACKGROUND: Research has documented heterogeneous developmental trajectories of specific symptoms, such as anxiety and depression, in late childhood and adolescence. Few studies, however, have examined the heterogeneity of general psychopathology (GPP) trajectories considering symptoms of anxiety, depression, and hostility in adolescence simultaneously. Identifying antecedents for distinct trajectory groups of GPP, and their respective consequences, may provide insight into the etiological underpinnings of social antecedents of different symptoms and inform the targets and timing of intervention. METHODS: European American target adolescents (N=444, 53% female) evaluated three domain specific symptoms (i.e., symptoms of anxiety, depression, and hostility) as well as psychosocial risks and social consequences over 10 years (from 1990 [Wave 2] to 2001 [Wave 13]). First- and second-order growth mixture models (SOGMMs) were used to identify trajectories of GPP and specific symptoms from mid-adolescence through young adulthood, as well as their predictors and consequences. RESULTS: A three-class model consisting of high and escalating (10.1%), high and decreasing (23.2%), and consistently low (66.7%) GPP emerged as the preferred solution. More predictors and outcomes were associated with membership in both the high and escalating and the high and declining classes of GPP compared to corresponding classes of the specific symptoms trajectories. LIMITATIONS: Self-reported information regarding three symptoms may be a source of bias within the current study. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that unified interventions and/or prevention efforts are needed to not only assess specific symptoms, but also to treat GPP in adolescence.

Romantic relationship transitions and changes in health among rural, White young adults.

A growing body of research examines how the presence and quality of romantic relationships, from dating to marriage, contribute to health. However, this work oftentimes fails to consider instability in the relationship supports and stressors thought to affect health. This is particularly important during the transition to adulthood when instability in romantic relationships is expected to be common. Barr, Culatta, and Simons (2013) put forth a new model that has shown promise for assessing the degree of this instability and its implications for young adult health. They tested their model, however, with an African American sample, and it remains unclear whether it is generalizable to other groups of young adults. The current study considers the generality of their model by applying it to a rural, White sample drawn from the Iowa Youth and Families Project, the only extant data set able to assess both their proposed measurement of relationship instability and its relation to multidimensional measures of health across the transition to adulthood. Findings lend support to their model, yet the degree of instability found among the rural, White young adults in the current study was less than that found in Barr et al.'s (2013) study. (PsycINFO Database Record

Couple Resilience to Economic Pressure Over Time and Across Generations.

Research suggests that economic stress disrupts perceived romantic relationship quality; yet less is known regarding the direct influence of economic stress on negative behavioral exchanges between partners over time. Another intriguing question concerns the degree to which effective problem-solving might protect against this hypothesized association. To address these issues, the authors studied two generations of couples who were assessed approximately 13 years apart (Generation 1: N = 367, Generation 2: N = 311). On average and for both generations, economic pressure predicted relative increases in couples' hostile, contemptuous, and angry behaviors; however, couples who were highly effective problem solvers experienced no increases in these behaviors in response to economic pressure. Less effective problem solvers experienced the steepest increases in hostile behaviors in response to economic pressure. Because these predictive pathways were replicated in both generations of couples it appears that these stress and resilience processes unfold over time and across generations.

The intergenerational continuity of socioeconomic status: Effects of parenting, personality, and age at first romantic partnership.

Research has indicated that socioeconomic status (SES) is related to individual health and well-being, and may be transmitted across generations. According to the interactionist model, circumstances in the family of origin and individual characteristics both account for social, economic, and developmental outcomes associated with SES. Thus, for the present investigation, we evaluated continuities in SES across 2 generations (G1, G2) as mediated through G1 maternal positive parenting, G2 personality, and G2 age of first committed romantic partnership. Participants were 432 emerging adults from an ongoing longitudinal study. Consistent with the interactionist model, G1 SES was associated with G2 personality indirectly through G1 maternal positive parenting. G1 SES, G2 personality, and G2 first partnership directly predicted G2 SES. G1 maternal positive parenting was also indirectly associated with G2 age at first partnership through G2 personality. Findings were consistent across 2 broad personality domains-negative emotionality and constraint. However, positive emotionality was not associated with G2 age at partnership. (PsycINFO Database Record

Longitudinal effect of defensive denial on relationship instability.

Maladaptive communication may often undermine the long-term stability of romantic relationships. We hypothesized that defensive denial may be a salient type of maladaptive communication that erodes relationship stability over time because it may lead to more caustic conflict-escalating behaviors. Additionally, we hypothesized that defensive denial observed in romantic relationships could be linked back to defensive denial observed in the family of origin. Using data from the Family Transitions Project, we specified longitudinal models in which observed defensive denial in romantic relationships affected self-reported and partner-reported relationship instability both directly and indirectly through self-reported and partner-reported conflict-escalating behaviors. Models also traced defensive denial observed in romantic relationships back to defensive denial observed in the family of origin nearly 10 years earlier, while participants were in late adolescence. Results from structural equation models supported the first two hypotheses. For both men and women, defensive denial was mediated by conflict-escalating behaviors to cause greater relationship instability over time. Additionally, there was evidence that the expressions of defensive denial in romantic relationships may have been learned in the family of origin for women, but not for men.

Harsh, inconsistent parental discipline and romantic relationships: mediating processes of behavioral problems and ambivalence.

According to the Development of Early Adult Romantic Relationships (DEARR) model (Bryant, C. M., & Conger, R. D. [2002]. Conger, R. D., Cui, M., Bryant, C. M., & Elder, G. H., Jr. [2000] interactional characteristics in the family of origin influence early adult romantic relationships by promoting or inhibiting the development of interpersonal competencies that contribute to relationship success in young adulthood. The present study uses the DEARR model as a general framework to help examine the long-term link between parental discipline practices in adolescence and young adult's interactions in the early years of marriage or cohabitation. Using prospective data from 288 target participants, their families, and their romantic partner, beginning when the targets were adolescents and continuing up to the fifth year of their marital or cohabiting relationships, we found empirical support for the DEARR model. Parental discipline practices in adolescence were associated with romantic relationship quality during the early years of marriage or cohabitation through processes in late adolescence and young adulthood. Specifically, harsh and inconsistent discipline practices were associated with greater attitudinal ambivalence toward parents in adolescence. Inconsistent discipline was also associated with higher risks of externalizing problems during late adolescence years. Externalizing problems and ambivalence toward parents predicted poorer relationship quality through aggressive behaviors and ambivalence toward a romantic partner during the early years of marriage or cohabitation. Implications for practitioners working with couples and families are discussed.

The interpersonal legacy of a positive family climate in adolescence.

In this research, we evaluated how well overall levels of positive engagement in adolescents' families of origin, as well as adolescents' unique expressions of positive engagement in observed family interactions, statistically predicted marital outcomes approximately 20 years later. The sample consisted of 288 focal individuals and their spouses, drawn from the Iowa Youth and Families Project (IYFP). Data for focal individuals' family-of-origin positive engagement were taken from IYFP assessments from 1989 to 1991. Data for outcomes of interest, including focal individuals' and spouses' marital behavior, were drawn from the IYFP between 2007 and 2008. Individuals' unique expressions of positive engagement in their families of origin were linked to the degree of positive engagement these adolescents later exhibited toward their spouses. A positive family climate during adolescence for one marital partner was also associated with positive marital outcomes for both partners. Overall, our results suggest that the climate in one's family of origin may have long-term significance for one's interpersonal relationships.

Linking questionnaire reports and observer ratings of young couples' hostility and support.

Past studies have correlated observer ratings with questionnaire self- and partner-reports of behaviors in close relationships. However, few studies have actually proposed and tested longitudinal models that link observer ratings to past behaviors and to questionnaire self- and partner-reports of behaviors during an observational task. Using data from a panel of 324 young couples, we demonstrate that (a) observer ratings of hostility and support are significantly related to couple reports of the same behavior in the relationship two years earlier, and (b) respondent and partner questionnaire reports of hostility and support during the observational task converge with observer ratings of the same behavior even after controlling for earlier self- and partner-reports. These findings demonstrate that observer reports based on brief discussion tasks reflect the tenor of the relationship over a relatively long period of time. They also demonstrate that couple reports of interactions reflect observable behaviors beyond that attributed to earlier self- and partner-reports. Consistent with previous research, effect sizes are larger for hostility than support but there are few differences between men and women.

Family Economic Hardship and Progression of Poor Mental Health in Middle-aged Husbands and Wives.

Using prospective data from 370 middle-aged husbands and wives during a 12-year period, we investigated the intra-individual and dyadic influence of family economic hardship on the levels of depressive symptoms of husbands and wives over their middle years. The results suggest that family economic hardship during the early middle years contributes to subsequent increase in depressive symptoms of husbands and wives after controlling for family economic hardship in late middle years. Consistent with stress-process theory, economic hardship influences depressive symptoms directly and indirectly through its influence on self-esteem. The results also provided evidence for the scar hypothesis which suggests that depression predicts subsequent level of self-esteem and form a reciprocal process between depressive symptoms and self-esteem over time. In sum, for both husbands and wives, our findings showed that depressive symptoms progress over the middle years through a self-perpetuating reciprocal process between self-esteem and depression initiated by early family economic hardship and through cross-spouse influences involving self-esteem and depressive symptoms.

From racial discrimination to risky sex: prospective relations involving peers and parents.

This study investigated how early experience with racial discrimination affected the subsequent risky sexual behaviors of a diverse sample of African American youths (N = 745). The analyses focused on 3 risk-promoting factors thought to mediate the hypothesized discrimination → risky sex relation: negative affect, affiliation with deviant peers, and favorable attitudes toward risky sex. In addition, attentive parenting was examined as a protective factor. Analyses using structural equation modeling revealed that youths who perceived more racial discrimination at age 10 or 11 were engaging in more sexual risk taking at age 18 or 19. This relation was mediated by the hypothesized risk-promoting factors via pathways that were consistent with our conceptual model. Results also indicated a prospective reciprocal relation between parenting and children's deviant affiliations: deviant peer affiliations at age 10 or 11 predicted more attentive parenting behaviors by the parents; this response from the parents, in turn, predicted relatively fewer deviant affiliations when the youths were 15 or 16. Study findings are discussed in terms of their relevance to the disproportionately high rates of sexually transmitted infections among African Americans.

What Explains Divorced Women's Poorer Health?: The Mediating Role of Health Insurance and Access to Health Care in a Rural Iowan Sample*

The economic restructuring in rural areas in recent decades has been accompanied by rising marital instability. To examine the implications of the increase in divorce for the health of rural women, we examine how marital status predicts adequacy of health insurance coverage and health care access, and whether these factors help to account for the documented association between divorce and later illness. Analyzing longitudinal data from a cohort of over 400 married and recently divorced rural Iowan women, we decompose the total effect of divorce on physical illness a decade later using structural equation modeling. Divorced women are less likely to report adequate health insurance in the years following divorce, inhibiting their access to medical care and threatening their physical health. Full-time employment acts as a buffer against insurance loss for divorced women. The growth of marital instability in rural areas has had significant ramifications for women's health; the decline of adequate health insurance coverage following divorce explains a component of the association between divorced status and poorer long-term health outcomes.