Health continuity over mid-later years in enduring marriages: Economic pressure as couple- and individual-level mediator

Abstract

Health problems in midlife have been shown to continue into later adulthood. This continuity may be attributed to social selection and social causation, with longitudinal sequential associations between health problems and economic pressure (EP) over the life course creating mediational effects (health → EP → health). Moreover, in enduring marriages, this potential mediation may operate as a dyadic process over time. Yet this mediational process involving health problems and economic pressure has not been adequately investigated in couple contexts. Using a sample of 257 husbands and wives in enduring marriages, we investigated multilevel mediation processes between health problems and EP from midlife to later adulthood. The results indicate unique couple- and individual-level (only for husbands) mediation processes of health problems in the couple context, emphasizing the value of considering both couple- and individual-level health processes when developing health interventions.