1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«The main goal of this study was to examine the longitudinal role of marital functioning as a moderator effect on the longitudinal relationship between physical health (measured according to the self-reported number of chronic health conditions and self-rated health) and psychological distress among community-dwelling couples over an 18-month period.» (p. 62)

Questions/Hypothèses :
«Do gender differences impact the longitudinal effect of marital functioning and physical health on psychological distress? […] Do gender differences impact the moderator effect of marital functioning on the longitudinal association between physical health and psychological distress? […] Do partner effects impact the longitudinal association between marital functioning and psychological distress? […] Do partner effects impact the longitudinal association between physical health and psychological distress?» (p. 63)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
The data were obtained from a longitudinal survey of community-dwelling older couples (n = 508) living in Quebec [...].» (p. 63)

Instruments :
Questionnaires

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

«In summary, these findings underline the importance of marital functioning and health on further psychological distress for both genders. It can be expected that promoting chronic disease prevention and marital interventions to increase marital functioning would contribute to less psychological distress over time among older couples. For women, a less positive view of their health has a negative impact on their psychological distress, underlining the importance of taking women’s perception of their own health into account. It may be of interest if health professionals were to ask older women the same, single question about their health perception to prevent further psychological distress. Moreover, it appears that the emergence of this stressor among older women with a less positive view of their health has a more profound impact on psychological distress for those with higher levels of marital functioning than it does for those with lower levels of marital functioning. These findings suggest how important it is to pay special attention to the evaluation of marital functioning among those women. It suggests the same for older men with lower levels of marital functioning, because they are more at risk of showing further psychological distress.» (p. 74)