A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Both Partnership History and Current Relationship Quality are Associated With Life Satisfaction in Old Age
Authors: Tambellini, Elisa; Danielsbacka, Mirkka; Rotkirch, Anna
Publisher: SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC
Publishing place: THOUSAND OAKS
Publication year: 2024
Journal: Research on Aging
Journal name in source: RESEARCH ON AGING
Journal acronym: RES AGING
Number of pages: 17
ISSN: 0164-0275
eISSN: 1552-7573
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/01640275241309255(external)
Web address : https://doi.org/10.1177/01640275241309255(external)
Romantic relationships significantly impact physical and mental wellbeing. While both partnership history and current relationship quality influence wellbeing in later life, they are seldom investigated together. This study examines the long-term effects of partnership history on wellbeing, exploring whether current relationship quality can mitigate the impact of past experiences. Using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) Finland, we categorize partnership histories and examine if relationship quality mediates their effect on life satisfaction. The analysis identifies five partnership history clusters, revealing that continuous relationships lead to the highest life satisfaction, while unstable histories are linked to lower wellbeing. High relationship satisfaction and fewer conflicts are associated with greater wellbeing for both sexes. Relationship quality mediates the negative associations between unstable partnership histories and subjective wellbeing for both men and women but does not alter the wellbeing associations for those with a continuous partnership history.
Funding information in the publication:
This work was supported by the research program Love Age of the Academy of Finland (nr 317808) and the Net Resilience consortium funded by Strategic Research Council of the Academy of Finland (grant number 364371).
