This study used longitudinal data to examine the effects of spousal illness on depressive symptoms among middle-aged and older married individuals and the extent to which the adverse effects of illness in a spouse were mitigated by 2 psychological resources, mastery and self-esteem. Using 1,704 married participants who were 51 years of age on…

Tests of the relationship between economic difficulties and marital distress have generally excluded retirement-aged couples. Given the aging U.S. population and the upcoming retirement of the baby boom cohort, this research gap is problematic. To rectify this omission, this study uses longitudinal data from the National Survey of Families and…

In this article life history data from the U.S. National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH), and the Dutch survey on Older Adults' Living Arrangements and Social Networks (NESTOR-LSN) are used to shed light on the various pathways leading to and associated with childlessness, and the proportions of men and women who have followed a…

Purpose: We examined age-cohort differences in the interrelationships among marital processes and depressed affect. Design and Methods: We used data from individuals in first marriages that participated in the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH). The NSFH interviewed one adult per household of a nationally representative sample.…

The prevalence and implications of childlessness in old age are compared across nine major surveys in seven countries: Australia, Finland, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Specifically, the researchers examine indicators of the well-being and resources of childless men and women, compare them to their…

There is some evidence that older parents and their adult children may evaluate their relationships with each other in different ways. To date, we know little about what may account for these discrepancies. This investigation compares the perceptions of intergenerational solidarity among 2,590 adult-child/older-parent dyads from the National…