Spousal Goals, Affect Quality, and Collaborative Problem Solving: Evidence from a Time-Sampling Study With Older Couples

Abstract

This study utilized up to 27 simultaneous daily-life assessments from 49 husbands and wives (M age = 72 years, M = marriage length = 42 years). Progress on self-focused goals was associated with concurrent increases in positive affect and decreases in negative affect. Progress on joint goals was associated with decreases in negative affect only. Spouses with many joint goals used more collaborative problem-solving strategies, which were rated as very effective. Findings demonstrate the benefits of combining time-varying and stable person-level characteristics when investigating how older spouses navigate their daily lives with implications for aging outcomes.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This research was supported by a National Institute on Aging Research Grant AG 11715, awarded to Fredda Blanchard-Fields (1948–2010). Christiane A. Hoppmann also gratefully acknowledges the support of the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research. The authors would like to thank Daniela Jopp, Stephanie Gunter, Phil Brzenk, and Brendan Finton for their contributions to this study.