The Meta Marriage: Links Between Older Couples' Relationship Narratives and Marital Satisfaction

McCoy, Alexandra; Rauer, Amy; Sabey, Allen K.

doi:10.1111/famp.12217

Cited by 15 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…As a result, parents may perceive higher burden when caring for PLS due to the sense of guilt, blame, and anger that results from their situation [18,57,58]. In contrast, spouse caregivers may normalize caregiving as part of their marital role as reflected in marriage vows, such as "in sickness and in health" or "until death do us part" [59][60][61]. Spouses may thus experience less conflict between their caregiver roles and other family and work-related roles they have, and thus experience less subjective burden [62,63].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A cross-sectional study on spouse and parent differences in caregiving experiences of people living with schizophrenia in rural China

et al. 2020

BMC Psychiatry

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Background: Conflicting evidence exists on whether parent or spouse caregivers experience better outcomes when caring for family members with schizophrenia. The current study aims to examine relative caregiving experiences and impacts of spouse and parent caregivers for people living with schizophrenia (PLS) in China. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a sample of 264 community-dwelling primary family caregivers of PLS. Face-to-face interviews were conducted to collect information on family caregiving activities; negative caregiving impacts including objective and subjective burden, and caregiver psychological distress such as depression and anxiety; positive caregiving impacts including caregiving rewarding feelings, and family functioning for spouse and parent caregivers. Results: Both types of caregivers report engaging in similar caregiving activities and report comparable levels of objective burden. However, parent caregivers report significantly higher subjective burden than spouse caregivers (b = 7.94, 95%CI:2.08, 13.80, P < 0.01), which is also reflected in significantly higher depression (b = 3.88, 95%CI:1.35, 6.41, P < 0.01) and anxiety (b = 2.53, 95%CI: 0.22, 4.84, P < 0.05), and lower family functioning (b = − 1.71, 95%CI: − 2.73, − 0.49, P < 0.01). Despite these differences, both groups of caregivers report comparable rewarding feelings about caregiving. Conclusions: Our findings have implications for family caregivers globally, but especially for countries that adhere to Confucian cultural values and provide guidance for future family intervention programs. Such programs may do well to incorporate cultural values and beliefs in understanding caregiving and kinship family dynamics so as to support family caregivers, and in particular, the specific vulnerabilities of parent caregivers.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A cross-sectional study on spouse and parent differences in caregiving experiences of people living with schizophrenia in rural China

et al. 2020

BMC Psychiatry

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“…Sorokowski et al examined marital satisfaction factors in 33 Western and Eastern countries and concluded that gender, age, the duration of marriage, religiosity/religion, the number of children, economic/social status and class, education, and individualism/collectivism were the main predictors of marital satisfaction (Sorokowski et al, 2017). For example, men are more satisfied with their marriage than women, in Western and non-Western cultures (McCoy et al, 2017). However, cultural differences and variables must be taken into account.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term Marital Satisfaction: Couples’ Narratives of the Role of Mate Selection

Jamalnik

Falsafinejad

Koolaee

2020

JCCNC

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Background: Long-term marital satisfaction depends on various factors in couples’ lives. Shared interests, beliefs, and goals can guarantee couples’ long and satisfying relationships. However, mate selection is one of the primary requirements for establishing a marital relationship in both modern and traditional societies. Based on the narratives of couples, the present study aimed to explore the role of mate selection in marital satisfaction. Methods: This study employed a qualitative narrative research design. The participants were couples who lived together at least for 10 years, were satisfied with their married life, and had children. They were selected through the purposive sampling method from the family entertainment centers of health houses affiliated with Qom Municipality, in 2019. The data were generated using in-depth in-person interviews. After interviewing 13 couples, theoretical saturation was obtained. The data were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed manually using the textual analytic approach. Results: The analysis of the participants’ narratives showed that the couples believed that four main themes, including spouse personality traits, shared religious beliefs, shared socioeconomic positions, and mutual respect and understanding affected their marital satisfaction. Conclusion: The couples who were satisfied with their marriage believed that realistic and correct mate selection played a vital role in the survival and stability of their marital life. It is very important to pay attention to the role and conditions of mate selection and its impact on the stability of marriage. Results from this study help counselors, couples’ therapists, mental health professionals, psychiatric nurses, and midwifery consultants prepare couples for premarital programs.

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“…As a result, parents may perceive higher burden when caring for PLWS due to the sense of guilt, blame, and anger that results from their situation (27,52,53). In contrast, spouse caregivers may normalize caregiving as part of their marital role as reflected in their marriage vows, such as "in sickness and in health" or "until death do us part" (54)(55)(56). Thus, spouses may experience less conflict between their caregiver roles and other family and work-related roles they have, and thus experience less subjective burden (57,58).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spouse and parent differences in caregiving experiences of people living with schizophrenia in rural China

Yu¹,

Li²,

Li³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background: To comprehensively examine and carefully compare caregiving experiences and impacts between spouse and parent caregivers for people living with schizophrenia in China. Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted in a sample of 264 community-dwelling primary family caregivers of people living with schizophrenia. Face-to-face interviews were conducted to collect information on caregiving activities, both objective and subjective burden, caregiver psychological distress including depression and anxiety, positive caregiving impact including caregiving rewarding feelings and family functioning between spouse and parent caregivers.Results: Both types of caregivers report engaging in similar caregiving activities and report comparable levels of objective burden. However, parent caregivers report significantly higher subjective burden than spouse caregivers (β=7.93, 95%CI:2.13, 13.73), which is also reflected in significantly higher depression (β =3.60, 95%CI:1.09, 6.12) and anxiety scores (β=2.37, 95%CI: 0.08, 4.65), and reports of lower family functioning (β =-1.61, 95%CI: -2.73, -0.49). Despite these differences, both groups of caregivers report comparable rewarding feelings about caregiving.Conclusions: The findings may be explained by the difference between subjective burden and objective burden, as well as the unique cultural and social characteristics of family caregivers in China. The study discusses implications for future intervention, particularly for parents as family caregivers.

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The Meta Marriage: Links Between Older Couples' Relationship Narratives and Marital Satisfaction

Cited by 15 publications

References 51 publications

A cross-sectional study on spouse and parent differences in caregiving experiences of people living with schizophrenia in rural China

A cross-sectional study on spouse and parent differences in caregiving experiences of people living with schizophrenia in rural China

Long-term Marital Satisfaction: Couples’ Narratives of the Role of Mate Selection

Spouse and parent differences in caregiving experiences of people living with schizophrenia in rural China

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