Marriage and Family Life: The Middle and LateYearsWomen report higher quality
relationships with their children than men
do (Antonucci & Schultz,2003).However,
men report higher quality marriages,
sexuality,and financial situations than
women.Overall satisfaction with children,
marriage,work,financial situation,and
life in general all increase with age.
Satisfaction with one’s financial situation
and sexuality peaks at midlife.Thereafter,
sexuality substantially decreases with age.
Thestrongestpredictorsof overall
qualityof lifearethequalityof aperson’s
marriageandcloserelationships,the
person’sfinancialsituation,theirhealth,
andlivingsituation(Fleeson,2004;Beedon,
Southworth,&Gist,2006).Comparedtoa
decadeago,therehasbeenimprovementin
thelivesof people50andover;however,
theimprovementsinthepastfewyears
havebeenmoremodest,primarilybecause
of changesintheeconomy(Beedon,
Southworth,&Gist,2006).As examined in chapter 7,marital
satisfaction increases to its highest level
since the addition of children into the
family about the age of retirement;
however,marital arguments can still take
their toll (Dush,Taylor,& Kroeger,2008).
Research indicates the more negative
spouses are with each other during
disagreements,the less the satisfaction
they feel with their marriage and the more
likely they are to have physical symptoms,
chronic health problems,physical
disability,and poorer perceived health
(Bookwala,2005).There is evidence to
suggest that,in the elderly,the more
negative the disagreements,the more they
weaken their immune systems (Kiecolt-
Glaser et al.,1997; Kiecolt-Glaser,Glaser,
Cacioppo & Malarkey,1998; Burns,2001;
Segerstrom & Miller,2004) Since older
people already have less vigorous immune
responses than younger people,marital
disagreements may put the elderly at
greater risk of infections and illness.
Thephysiologicalchangestakingplace
intheagingprocessaffectsexualityinolder
adults.However,thesechangesdonot
necessarilyinterferewithsexualactivity
(Goldman,Rye,&Sirovatka,1999;Zeiss&
Kasl-Godley,2001).Infact,astudyreported
intheNew England Journal of Medicine
found73%of peoplebetweentheagesof 57
and64weresexuallyactive.Thisnumber
droppedto53%forthoseage65to74and
to26%forindividualsage75to85.(Lindau
etal.,2007).The physiological changes taking place in the aging process
affect sexuality in older adults, but do not necessarily
interfere with sexual activity.ImagefromBigstockPhoto.com/wekiwis