Friends, family, and romantic partners: Three critical relationships in older women's lives. 2021

Jacob Shane, and Anna Luerssen, and Cheryl L Carmichael
Brooklyn College, City University of New York, New York, New York, USA.

How are different social relationships jointly and uniquely associated with older women's health and well-being, and what is the directionality of these associations? We address these questions using longitudinal data from the Midlife in the United States study. We find that relationship quality with romantic partners, family, and friends is positively linked with better health and well-being concurrently and longitudinally. Cross-lagged analyses indicate that romantic relationships are more predictive of than predicted by health and well-being, family relationships are more predicted by than predictive of health and well-being, and friendships are both predicted by and predictive of health and well-being.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007398 Interpersonal Relations The reciprocal interaction of two or more persons. Social Relationships,Husband-Wife Communication,Partner Communication,Communication, Husband-Wife,Communication, Partner,Husband Wife Communication,Husband-Wife Communications,Interpersonal Relation,Partner Communications,Relation, Interpersonal,Relationship, Social,Social Relationship
D008149 Love Affection; in psychiatry commonly refers to pleasure, particularly as it applies to gratifying experiences between individuals. Loves
D005190 Family A social group consisting of parents or parent substitutes and children. Family Life Cycles,Family Members,Family Life Cycle,Family Research,Filiation,Kinship Networks,Relatives,Families,Family Member,Kinship Network,Life Cycle, Family,Life Cycles, Family,Network, Kinship,Networks, Kinship,Research, Family
D005195 Family Relations Behavioral, psychological, and social relations among various members of the nuclear family and the extended family. Family Relationship,Family Dynamics,Family Relationships,Dynamic, Family,Dynamics, Family,Family Dynamic,Family Relation,Relation, Family,Relations, Family,Relationship, Family,Relationships, Family
D005260 Female Females
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000368 Aged A person 65 years of age or older. For a person older than 79 years, AGED, 80 AND OVER is available. Elderly
D012747 Sexual Partners Married or single individuals who share sexual relations. Multiple Partners Sexual,Multiple Sex Partners,Multiple Sexual Partners,Sex Partners,Partner, Sex,Partner, Sexual,Sex Partner,Sex Partner, Multiple,Sex Partners, Multiple,Sexual Partner,Sexual Partner, Multiple
D012944 Social Support Support systems that provide assistance and encouragement to individuals with physical or emotional disabilities in order that they may better cope. Informal social support is usually provided by friends, relatives, or peers, while formal assistance such as COMMUNITY SUPPORT is provided by churches, groups, etc. Perceived Social Support,Social Care,Online Social Support,Care, Social,Online Social Supports,Perceived Social Supports,Social Support, Online,Social Support, Perceived,Social Supports, Online,Social Supports, Perceived,Support, Online Social,Support, Perceived Social,Support, Social,Supports, Perceived Social
D014481 United States A country in NORTH AMERICA between CANADA and MEXICO.

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