Who’s Worried? Memory, Worries About Dementia, and Marital Strain in Midlife Same- and Different-Sex Marriages: A Dyadic Perspective

Abstract

Objectives: Prior scholarship has highlighted the importance of marriage for cognition. However, little research has considered how cognition-related concerns may impact marriage. In this study, researchers examine how aging couples view each other’s memory and worry about their potential development of dementia in the future. Additionally, researchers investigate whether these cognition-related concerns may strain marriage, and how these dynamics differ for men and women in same- and different-sex marriages. Methods: Researchers used 2 waves of dyadic data from the Health and Relationships Project (HARP; 2015–2022), including 594 respondents from 297 same- and different-sex married couples (aged 41–71 at Time 2). Researchers employed the Actor–Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) to explore associations between actor and partner reports of memory and dementia worry with marital strain. Results: Men and women in same- and different-sex marriages were equally likely to report worries about their own potential development of dementia. However, women reported more concerns about their spouse developing dementia in the future than men did, regardless of whether they were married to a man or a woman. Both partners’ reports of memory and dementia worry played a complex role in influencing marital strain, with variations observed across couple types. Discussion: Concerns about cognitive decline and dementia are common in older populations, and for married couples, spouses have concerns about their own memory as well as that of their partner. Researchers finding identified the significance of concerns about a spouse’s memory on marital dynamics among aging couples.