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<p>Although physical, functional, cognitive, and social functioning have been used as components of successful aging, perceived happiness in later life is also an important success factor. Various circumstances influence happiness in later life, and relationships with a partner play a pivotal role due to increased time spent together in later life. This study evaluated an actor-partner interdependence model in a United States sample to understand how happiness of respondents and their spouses impact each other over time. We investigated effects of age, education, gender, and whether parents are alive on the respondents’ and their spouses’ happiness. A total of 11,289 respondents (mean age = 63.57) from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) were included in the analysis. Multiple regression analyses demonstrated that past happiness is directly associated with present happiness for both respondents and spouses. Respondents’ happiness was significantly associated with spouses’ happiness, and vice versa. Furthermore, male gender and higher education were associated with happiness. A conditional constrained random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) linking respondents’ and spouses’ happiness over four waves fit the data well, <i>χ</i><sup>2</sup> (<i>df</i> = 41) = 265.767, <i>p</i> &lt; .001, <i>AIC</i> = 82664.735, <i>BIC</i> = 82978.752, <i>RMSEA = .</i>022 [0.020, 0.025], <i>CFI</i> = 0.960. Spill-over (partner) effects were generally smaller and fluctuated across waves, occasionally displaying negative associations. Male gender and higher education were positively associated with happiness, while age and the number of living parents was not a consistent predictor. Model comparisons showed that constraining cross-partner effects over time did not worsen model fit compared to allowing them to vary, supporting the use of the less complex constrained model. These findings highlight the stability and interdependence of happiness within older couples and underscore the importance of relational and demographic factors in shaping emotional well-being in later life. Future research should further explore how family dynamics and social contexts influence happiness trajectories across aging populations.</p>

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Examining the Interplay of Happiness for Older Adults and Their Spouses: An Actor-Partner Interdependence Model

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月21日

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  • Elnaz Abaei,
  • Peter Martin

摘要

Although physical, functional, cognitive, and social functioning have been used as components of successful aging, perceived happiness in later life is also an important success factor. Various circumstances influence happiness in later life, and relationships with a partner play a pivotal role due to increased time spent together in later life. This study evaluated an actor-partner interdependence model in a United States sample to understand how happiness of respondents and their spouses impact each other over time. We investigated effects of age, education, gender, and whether parents are alive on the respondents’ and their spouses’ happiness. A total of 11,289 respondents (mean age = 63.57) from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) were included in the analysis. Multiple regression analyses demonstrated that past happiness is directly associated with present happiness for both respondents and spouses. Respondents’ happiness was significantly associated with spouses’ happiness, and vice versa. Furthermore, male gender and higher education were associated with happiness. A conditional constrained random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) linking respondents’ and spouses’ happiness over four waves fit the data well, χ2 (df = 41) = 265.767, p < .001, AIC = 82664.735, BIC = 82978.752, RMSEA = .022 [0.020, 0.025], CFI = 0.960. Spill-over (partner) effects were generally smaller and fluctuated across waves, occasionally displaying negative associations. Male gender and higher education were positively associated with happiness, while age and the number of living parents was not a consistent predictor. Model comparisons showed that constraining cross-partner effects over time did not worsen model fit compared to allowing them to vary, supporting the use of the less complex constrained model. These findings highlight the stability and interdependence of happiness within older couples and underscore the importance of relational and demographic factors in shaping emotional well-being in later life. Future research should further explore how family dynamics and social contexts influence happiness trajectories across aging populations.