Until death do us part: The codevelopment of life satisfaction in couples preceding the death of one partner.

Wünsche, Jenna; Weidmann, Rebekka; Grob, Alexander

doi:10.1037/pspi0000228

Cited by 8 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 87 publications

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“…Fourth, we cannot rule out that people had already experienced anticipatory change, such as in cases of long-lasting illness at T1 (Infurna et al, 2017; Wünsche et al, 2020), in which case we might have underestimated the impact of bereavement. It is possible that some participants were affected by previous losses that happened earlier than 3 months before the study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

In good times and in bad: A longitudinal analysis of the impact of bereavement on self-esteem and life satisfaction in couples

et al. 2022

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This study examines the impact of bereavement on self-esteem and life satisfaction in both partners of a romantic couple. We investigate the moderating effects of the type of the lost relationship (close family, close friends/others) and romantic relationship characteristics (daily social support, responsiveness-closeness, self-disclosure). We examined 1238 individuals in 619 male–female couples from the ages 18 to 81 ( M [ SD] = 31.97 years [13.26]). Both partners completed questionnaires at two assessments that were 20 months ( SD = 2.02 months) apart, in between which n = 216 individuals were bereaved. Actor–partner interdependence models showed that bereavement did not predict later self-esteem or life satisfaction in either of the partners. The relationship characteristics and the type of lost relationship did not moderate the effects. The subjective meaning and distress of the loss predicted later self-esteem and life satisfaction. The self-esteem increase was larger for bereaved with a positive/neutral than for bereaved with a negative meaning of the bereavement. We found a partner effect on self-esteem for the group of bereaved who reported a negative meaning of the bereavement. The findings demonstrate that bereavement can impact romantic partners' self-esteem and that the subjective experience of bereavement helps understand individual differences in the effect of bereavement on self-esteem and life satisfaction.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

In good times and in bad: A longitudinal analysis of the impact of bereavement on self-esteem and life satisfaction in couples

et al. 2022

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“…Fourth, we cannot rule out that people had already experienced anticipatory change, such as in cases of long-lasting illness at T1 Wünsche, Weidmann, & Grob, 2020), in which case we might have underestimated the impact of bereavement. It is possible that some participants were affected by previous losses that happened earlier than 3 months before the study.…”

Section: Limitations and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

In Good Times and in Bad: A Longitudinal Analysis of the Impact of Bereavement on Self-Esteem and Life Satisfaction in Couples

Reitz¹,

Weidmann²,

Wünsche³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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This study examines the impact of bereavement on self-esteem and life satisfaction in both partners of a romantic couple. We investigate the moderating effects of the type of the lost relationship (close family, close friends/others) and romantic relationship characteristics (daily social support, responsiveness-closeness, self-disclosure). We examined 1,238 individuals in 619 male-female couples from the ages 18 to 81 (M[SD] = 31.97 years [13.26]). Both partners completed questionnaires at two assessments that were 20 months (SD = 2.02 months) apart, in between which n = 216 individuals were bereaved. Actor-partner interdependence models showed that bereavement did not predict later self-esteem or life satisfaction in either of the partners. The relationship characteristics and the type of lost relationship did not moderate the effects. The subjective meaning and distress of the loss predicted later self-esteem and life satisfaction. The self-esteem increase was larger for bereaved with a positive/neutral than for bereaved with a negative meaning. We found a partner effect on self-esteem for the group of bereaved who reported a negative meaning. The findings demonstrate that bereavement can impact romantic partners' self-esteem and that the subjective experience of bereavement helps understand individual differences in the effect of bereavement on self-esteem and life satisfaction.

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“…Additionally, according to Larson and Almeida, families are crucial settings for daily emotional exchanges [ 4 ], and the interpersonal influence among family members occurs through daily interaction. Consequently, it is necessary to expand the scope of inquiry beyond the individual to better understand systemic influence [ 5 , 6 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Longitudinal Dyadic Associations between Depressive Symptoms and Life Satisfaction among Chinese Married Couples and the Moderating Effect of Within-Dyad Age Discrepancy

Guo

2022

IJERPH

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Family systems theory defines the family unit as a complex social system in which individual members influence and are influenced by each other. The current study aimed to investigate the longitudinal dyadic associations between life satisfaction and depressive symptoms among a sample of Chinese married couples and the moderating effect of within-dyad age discrepancy. The current sample included 5773 married couples who completed three waves of assessments of the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) in 2012, 2016, and 2018. The sample was categorized into two groups based on the within-dyad age discrepancy: the younger-wife–older-husband dyads (n = 4280, 74.13%) and the older-wife–younger-husband dyads (n = 1493, 25.86%). The longitudinal actor–partner interdependence models with multiple-group analysis were used to analyze the data. The results showed that a majority of actor effects were significant across time, and the two groups exhibited the same pattern among the actor effects. The older-wife–younger-husband dyads showed fewer significant partner effects than the younger-wife–older-husband dyads, and most partner effects indicated mutual rather than unidirectional influence. These findings yielded support for the statement of family systems theory that family members interconnect and that the development of one’s well-being needs to be understood in the context of the spouse’s well-being.

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Until death do us part: The codevelopment of life satisfaction in couples preceding the death of one partner.

Abstract: The first author was funded by a research-project grant of the Swiss National Science Foundation (project number 100019_162697). We thank Robert Burriss for his valuable comments on the manuscript.

Cited by 8 publications

References 87 publications

In good times and in bad: A longitudinal analysis of the impact of bereavement on self-esteem and life satisfaction in couples

In good times and in bad: A longitudinal analysis of the impact of bereavement on self-esteem and life satisfaction in couples

In Good Times and in Bad: A Longitudinal Analysis of the Impact of Bereavement on Self-Esteem and Life Satisfaction in Couples

Longitudinal Dyadic Associations between Depressive Symptoms and Life Satisfaction among Chinese Married Couples and the Moderating Effect of Within-Dyad Age Discrepancy

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