RETRACTED: In Sickness and in Health? Physical Illness as a Risk Factor for Marital Dissolution in Later Life

Karraker, Amelia; Latham, Kenzie

doi:10.1177/0022146514568351

Cited by 10 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…For married midlife straight couples, relationship duration, poor health, and increased caregiving responsibilities are all associated with diminished sexual frequency or satisfaction (Call, Sprecher, & Schwartz, 1995;DeLamater & Sill, 2005;Gott & Hinchliff, 2003;Karraker, DeLamater, & Schwartz, 2011;Lindau et al, 2007). Moreover, the experience of midlife events and sexuality seems to unfold differently for men and women in straight marriages (see DeLamater & Sill, 2005;Karraker et al, 2011;Karraker & Latham, 2015). For example, increased caregiving responsibilities seem to have more deleterious effects on overall marital quality (measures of which include sexual satisfaction) for straight women than for straight men (Bookwala, 2009).…”

Section: Sex Marriage and Midlife Seen Through A Gender-as-relationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex in Midlife: Women's Sexual Experiences in Lesbian and Straight Marriages

Paine

Umberson

Reczek

2018

J of Marriage and Family

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Objective This study examines how married straight and lesbian women understand sexual changes in midlife. Background Sexual satisfaction is key to marital quality, yet marital sex typically diminishes in midlife. Little is known, however, about how married straight and lesbian women make sense of midlife sexuality. Comparing the narratives of lesbian and straight women can reveal how midlife events, relational contexts, and gender norms drive women's experiences of and responses to diminishing sex. Method Inductive and deductive analyses were performed on interviews with a convenience sample of 16 straight and 16 lesbian mostly high‐status married couples in Massachusetts. Results Lesbian and straight women suggest that sexual activity and desire diminish over time due to health, aging, and caregiving events, yet lesbian women additionally emphasize the importance of weight gain, caregiving for adult parents, and shared experiences of menopause. Women further describe distress when their sex lives diverge from norms specific to marriage and their sexual identities. Moreover, women report relationship work designed to maintain or reignite sex; when compared with straight women, lesbians describe more work and a stronger sense of duty to keep sex alive and uniquely describe medical providers as unhelpful in addressing sexual challenges. Conclusion The results suggest that relational contexts and cultural discourses shape straight and lesbian women's experiences of distress and comfort about diminishing sex in marriage.

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Section: Sex Marriage and Midlife Seen Through A Gender-as-relationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex in Midlife: Women's Sexual Experiences in Lesbian and Straight Marriages

Paine

Umberson

Reczek

2018

J of Marriage and Family

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“…the selection model suggests that individuals in better health or with more favorable health characteristics are more likely to be selected into marriage, whereas those in worse health or with fewer favorable health characteristics are more likely to be selected out of marriage (fu & goldman, 1996;Karraker & latham, 2015). Healthy individuals may be selected into marriage directly, through individuals' preferences for mentally and physically fit spouses, or indirectly, through selection criteria that are themselves associated with health and well-being such as socioeconomic status, health behaviors, and psychological characteristics (fu & goldman, 1996;Musick, Brand, & davis, 2012).…”

Section: Selection Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Marriage selection seems to work on health at two levels: first, more healthy individuals are more likely to marry, and second, less healthy people are more likely to divorce. for example, a recent study has found that wife's heart problem onset increases the risk of divorce (Karraker & latham, 2015). However, what is noteworthy is that researchers have found a significant association between marital status and health even after controlling for selection factors such as education, income, personality, health behaviors, and health before marriage (Carr & springer, 2010;d.…”

Section: Selection Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Marital biography and health in middle and late life.

Zhang¹,

Liu²,

Yu³

2016

Couple Relationships in the Middle and Later Years: Their Nature, Complexity, and Role in Health and Illness.

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10 a long tradition of research has found that being married is associated with better mental health, lower rates of chronic illness, fewer functioning problems and disabilities, and longer life expectancy in the United states (pienta, Hayward, & Jenkins, 2000;Umberson, thomeer, & Williams, 2013;Waite & gallagher, 2000). More recent research on marriage and health has suggested that health is influenced not only by current marital status but also by marital history (dupre & Meadows, 2007;Hughes & Waite, 2009;Zhang & Hayward, 2006). growing interest in how cumulative marital history, or marital biography, impacts health in later life can be attributed both to substantial changes in american family life over the past few decades and to the growing prominence of the life course perspective in health research. this this research was supported in part by an nICHd center grant to the population studies Center at the University of Michigan (r24 Hd041028) and a national Institute on aging grant (K01ag043417, principal investigator, Hui liu). We are grateful to n. e. Barr for editorial assistance.

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“…However, when dyadic adjustment to cancer-related distress fails, the relationship breaks down (Foster et al, 2009;Kirchhoff et al, 2012). A subset of patients and their partners are at higher risk for separation and divorce (Carlsen et al, 2007;Karraker and Latham, 2015;Sbarra et al, 2015) compared with the general population.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some studies show that marital stress associated with cancer may lead to an increased risk of separation and divorce compared with the general population (Karraker and Latham, 2015); others found that the risk of divorce is no greater in cancer survivors than in the general population (Carlsen et al, 2007). Studies have also found gender differences, with female patients being significantly more likely to divorce than male patients (Syse, 2008;Glantz et al, 2009;Karraker and Latham, 2015). Nevertheless, the results are inconsistent.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cancer and Relationship Dissolution: Perspective of Partners of Cancer Patients

2021

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PurposeCancer can be a burden on the relationship and even lead to relationship dissolution. Previous studies about the impact of cancer on close relationships almost exclusively involve cancer patients. So far, little is known about the views of spouses. Therefore, this study focuses on partners or ex-partners of cancer patients.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, N = 265 partners or ex-partners of cancer patients are examined regarding a possible separation, the reasons for separation and the influence of the cancer on the relationship. In addition, predictors of separation and the positive or negative perception of the impact of cancer on the relationship were investigated.ResultsThe separation rate (23.4%) was marginally lower than in the general population in Germany (35.79%). The most frequent reason for separation was the death of the cancer patient (59.6%), followed by relationship problems (26.9%), and the cancer disease itself (9.6%). Among those who were separated, 57.4% reported that cancer contributed to the separation. On average, the influence of cancer on relationship dissolution is indicated with 82.9%. Also, for those who stayed together, 83.7% reported an impact of the cancer on the relationship, of which 55.9% reported a negative impact. Logistic regressions indicated that higher levels of depression were associated with greater odds of a more negative perception of the influence of cancer on the relationship, whereas a more satisfied relationship tended to be associated with a more positive perception. Those who had no psychological treatment in the past, lower anxiety levels and lower relationship satisfaction had an increased risk of separation. Overall, relationship satisfaction was significantly lower than in the general population in Germany.ConclusionIn particular, psychological factors such as depression and anxiety as well as relationship satisfaction appear to be factors influencing separation and the perception of the influence of cancer on the relationship as positive or negative. Therefore, it seems to be reasonable to consider these aspects in the psychosocial support and also to include the partners in order to achieve a stable and satisfied relationship which has a positive effect on health and psychological well-being.

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RETRACTED: In Sickness and in Health? Physical Illness as a Risk Factor for Marital Dissolution in Later Life

Abstract: There was a major error in the coding in their dependent variable of marital status. The conclusions of that paper should be considered invalid. A corrected version of the paper will be published in the September 2015 issue of JHSB.

Cited by 10 publications

References 59 publications

Sex in Midlife: Women's Sexual Experiences in Lesbian and Straight Marriages

Sex in Midlife: Women's Sexual Experiences in Lesbian and Straight Marriages

Marital biography and health in middle and late life.

Cancer and Relationship Dissolution: Perspective of Partners of Cancer Patients

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