SOCIAL PARTICIPATION IN LATER LIFE COUPLES WITH AND WITHOUT PHYSICAL LIMITATIONS

Background: Social participation (SP) contributes to health and quality of life. Spouses influence each other, but more understanding of spousal influences on social participation is needed. According to dyadic coping theory,... [ view full abstract ]

Background:
Social participation (SP) contributes to health and quality of life. Spouses influence each other, but more understanding of spousal influences on social participation is needed. According to dyadic coping theory, spouses may compensate for physical limitations (PL) in their partner. This study investigated the relation between spousal physical functioning and social participation in later-life couples.
Method:
We analysed data of Dutch couples of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) with the dyad as unit of analysis. SP of husbands and SP of wives with or without PL was analysed using analysis of variance to assess between-group differences in four couple groups: (1) both spouses had no PL; (2) wife had PL, the husband no PL; (3) Husband had PL, the wife no PL; (4) both had PL.
Results:
Husbands with PL who had a wife without PL had the same SP level as husbands without PL whose wife had no PL. Wives without PL whose husband had PL had a significant lower SP level than wives without PL who had a husband without PL.
Conclusion:
Only wives compensated the PL in their partners. Husbands maintained their level of SP in the presence of FL. Wives’ SP became restricted when they had a husband with PL.
Application to Practice:
Occupational therapists who treat married men who have PL should explicitly pay attention to the social participation of their wives, because their wives are at risk for own restricted social participation.