1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«The main goal of this study was to examine the association between stress induced by daily hassles, marital functioning and psychological distress among older couples living at home without any assisted living facilities. This study also examined the moderator effect of marital functioning on the association between stress induced by daily hassles and psychological distress for both genders. Lastly, this study examined gender differences in the association between marital functioning and stress induced by daily hassles on psychological distress.» (p. 253)

Questions/Hypothèses :
«Thus, the following three hypotheses were tested: level of marital functioning and level of stress induced by daily hassle will be correlated with psychological distress in both genders; level of marital functioning and level of stress induced by daily hassles will have a stronger association with psychological distress for older women than older men; level of marital functioning will moderate the association between the stress induced by daily hassles and the psychological distress for both genders.» (p. 253)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«The research project ’ESA-COUPLE’ or ’Enquête sur la santé des aînés vivant en couple’ is a part of a larger study (’ESA’ or ’Enquête sur la santé des aînés’) among Quebec elderly people living at home. […] From the 2798 participants from the ’ESA’, 1358 were in couple. Those living in couples (married or in common law) were invited to participate in the ’ESA-Couple’ research project and were recruited by a stratified random sampling procedure conducted in three residential areas: metropolitan, urban and rural mainland.» (p. 253)

Instruments :
- Index of Psychological Distress of the Quebec Health Survey (IDPESQ-14)
- Dyadic Adjustment Scale

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

«This study shows that stress induced by daily hassles and marital functioning have an impact on psychological distress among older people living in relationships. Moreover, for men, it appears that the interaction between marital functioning and stress induced by daily hassles can explain a small part of their psychological distress, while no similar interaction effect was found among women. It seems that marital functioning can protect older men against psychological distress caused by stress. In short, marital functioning appears to be a very important variable in determining the levels of psychological distress among older couples. Particular attention should be paid to marital functioning in this population in order to prevent psychological distress for both genders, and especially for older men who expressed daily hassles.» (p. 257)