Endorsement of Interpersonal Strategies for Dealing with Hypothetical Everyday Arthritis Problems as a Function of Marital Status,Gender,and Problem Severity

Abstract

We used hypothetical vignettes to examine whether older adults' endorsement of interpersonal strategies for dealing with health-related (arthritis) everyday problems varied as a function of marital status, gender, and the severity of the problem. Adults 60 years and older (N = 127, M = 71.40 years, SD = 7.21) rated interpersonal (i.e., discuss with doctor, spouse, relative) and other strategies (e.g., deal with the problem alone, pray) for solving two hypothetical everyday problems (one mild and one severe arthritis problem).

Women reported a greater likelihood of using interpersonal strategies. Married people rated interpersonal strategies that involved their spouse higher than other strategies. Greater severity of problems was associated with greater endorsement of interpersonal strategies. Implications of the results for understanding the conditions under which older adults endorse strategies that may initiate collaborative everyday problem solving are discussed.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Akiyama

Elliot

, & Antonucci

T. C.

(1996). Same-sex and cross-sex relationships. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 51B, P374–382.

Aldwin

C. M.

, & Revenson

T. A.

(1987). Does coping help? A reexamination of the relation between coping and mental health. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 337–348.

Allaire

J. C.

, & Marsiske

(1999). Everyday cognition: Age and intellectual ability correlates. Psychology and Aging, 14, 627–644.

Allaire

J. C.

, & Marsiske

(2002). Well- and ill-defined measures of everyday cognition: Relationship to older adults' intellectual ability and functional status. Psychology and Aging, 17, 101–115.

Arthritis Foundation. (n.d.). Assess your symptoms. Retrieved October 24, 2006, from http://www.arthritis.org/conditions/JointHealth/Quiz/symptoms.asp

Baltes

P. B.

(1987). Theoretical propositions of life-span developmental psychology: On the dynamics between growth and decline. Developmental Psychology, 23, 611–626.

Baltes

M. M.

, & Silverberg

S. B.

(1994). Dynamics between dependency and autonomy: Illustrations across the life span. In Featherman

D. L.

Lerner

R. M.

, & Perlmutter

(Eds.), Life span development and behavior (Vol. 12, pp. 41–90). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Berg

C. A.

, & Calderone

K. S.

(1994). The role of problem interpretations in understanding the development of everyday problem solving. In Sternberg

R. J.

& Wagner

R. K.

(Eds.), Mind in context: Interactionist perspectives on human intelligence (pp. 105–132). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Berg

C. A.

Skinner

, & Ko

(2009). An integrative model of everyday problem solving across the adult life span. In Smith

M. C.

& Reio

T. G.

(Eds.), Handbook of research on adult learning and development (pp. 524–552). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

10.

Berg

C. A.

Strough

Calderone

K. S.

Sansone

, & Weir

(1998). The role of problem definitions in understanding age and context effects on strategies for solving everyday problems. Psychology & Aging, 13, 29–44.

11.

Berg

C. A.

, & Upchurch

(2007). A developmental-contextual model of couples coping with chronic illness across the adult life span. Psychological Bulletin, 133, 920–954.

12.

Blanchard-Fields

(2007). Everyday problem solving and emotion: An adult developmental perspective. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16, 26–31.

13.

Blanchard-Fields

Chen

, & Norris

(1997). Everyday problem solving across the adult lifespan: Influence of domain specificity and cognitive appraisal. Psychology and Aging, 12, 684–693.

14.

Blanchard-Fields

Jahnke

H. C.

, & Camp

(1995). Age differences in problem-solving style: The role of emotional salience. Psychology and Aging, 10, 173–180.

15.

Burke

G. L.

Arnold

A. M.

Bild

D. E.

Cushman

Fried

L. P.

Newman

(2001). Factors associated with healthy aging: The cardiovascular health study. Journal of American Geriatrics Society, 49, 254–262.

16.

Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Arthritis data and statistics. Retrieved October, 24, 2006, from http://www.cdc.gov/arthritis/data_statistics/national_data_nhis.htm#impact

17.

Cornelius

S. W.

, & Caspi

(1987). Everyday problem solving in adulthood and old age. Psychology and Aging, 2, 144–153.

18.

Cross

S. E.

, & Madson

(1997). Models of the self: Self-construals and gender. Psychological Bulletin, 22, 5–37.

19.

Denney

N. W.

, & Pearce

K. A.

(1989). A developmental study of practical problem solving in adults. Psychology and Aging, 4, 438–442.

20.

Depner

C. E.

, & Ingersoll-Dayton

(1988). Supportive relationships in later life. Psychology and Aging, 3, 348–357.

21.

Diehl

Willis

S. L.

, & Schaie

K. W.

(1995). Everyday problem solving in older adults: Observational assessment and cognitive correlates. Psychology and Aging, 10, 478–491.

22.

Goodnow

J. J.

Lawrence

J. A.

Ryan

Karantzas

, & King

(2002). Extending studies of collaborative cognition by way of caregiving situations. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 26, 16–25.

23.

Gurung

R. A. R.

Taylor

S. E.

, & Seeman

T. E.

(2003). Accounting for changes in social support among married older adults: Insight from the MacArthur studies of successful aging. Psychology and Aging, 18, 487–496.

24.

Heckhausen

, & Schulz

(1995). A life-span theory of control. Psychological Review, 102, 284–304.

25.

Hyde

J. S.

(2005). The gender similarities hypothesis. American Psychologist, 60, 581–592.

26.

Krause

Liang

, & Keith

(1990). Personality, social support, and psychological distress in later life. Psychology and Aging, 3, 315–326.

27.

Lewin

(1951). Field theory in social science: Selected theoretical papers, Cartright

(Ed.). New York: Harper & Row.

28.

Margrett

J. A.

, & Marsiske

(2002). Gender differences in older adults' everyday cognitive collaboration. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 26, 45–59.

29.

Markus

H. R.

, & Kitayama

(1991). Culture and self: Implications for cognition, emotion and motivation. Psychological Review, 98, 224–253.

30.

Marsiske

, & Margrett

J. A.

(2006). Everyday problem solving and decision making. In Birren

J. E.

& Schaie

K. W.

(Eds.), Handbook of the psychology of aging (6th ed., pp. 315–342). Burlington, MA: Elsevier.

31.

Marsiske

, & Willis

S. L.

(1995). Dimensionality of everyday problem solving in older adults. Psychology and Aging, 10, 269–283.

32.

Martire

L. M.

Schulz

Wrosch

, & Newsom

J. T.

(2003). Perceptions and implications of received spousal care: Evidence from the caregiver health effects study. Psychology and Aging, 18, 593–601.

33.

Meegan

S. P.

, & Berg

C. A.

(2001). Whose life task is it anyway? Social appraisal and life task pursuit. Journal of Personality, 69, 363–389.

34.

Miller

W. R.

, & Thoresen

C. E.

(2003). Spirituality, religion, and health. American Psychologist, 58, 24–35.

35.

Moen

(1996). Gender, age, and the life course. In Binstock

R. H.

& George

L. K.

(Eds.), Handbook of aging and the social sciences (4th ed., pp. 171–187). New York: Academic Press.

36.

Musick

M. A.

Traphagan

J. W.

Koenig

H. G.

, & Larson

D. B.

(2000). Spirituality in physical health and aging. Journal of Adult Development, 7, 73–86.

37.

Park

D. C.

(1999). Aging and the controlled and automatic processing of medical information and medical intentions. In Park

D. C.

Morrell

R. W.

, & Shifren

(Eds.), Processing of medical information in aging patients (pp. 3–23). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

38.

Patrick

J. H.

, & Strough

(2004). Everyday problem solving: Experience, strategies, and behavioral intentions. Journal of Adult Development, 11, 9–19.

39.

Rawlins

W. K.

(1995). Friendships in later life. In Nussbaum

J. F.

& Coupland

(Eds.), Handbook of communication and aging research, (pp. 227–257). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

40.

Rutledge

Matthews

Lui

L. Y.

Stone

K. L.

, & Cauley

J. A.

(2003). Social networks and marital status predict mortality in older women: Prospective evidence from the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures (SOF). Psychosomatic Medicine, 65, 688–694.

41.

Sansone

, & Berg

C. A.

(1993). Adapting to the environment across the life span: Different processes or different inputs? International Journal of Behavioral Development, 16, 215–241.

42.

Sinnott

J. D.

(1989). Summary: Issues and directions for everyday problem solving research. In Sinnott

J. D.

(Ed.), Everyday problem solving: Theory and application (pp. 300–306). New York: Praeger.

43.

Spence

J. T.

, & Buckner

C. E.

(2000). Instrumental and expressive traits, trait stereotypes, and sexist attitudes. What do they signify? Psychology of Women Quarterly, 24, 44–62.

44.

Staudinger

U. M.

, & Baltes

P. B.

(1996). Interactive minds: A facilitative setting for wisdom-related performance? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 746–762.

45.

Sternberg

, & Wagner

(1986). Practical intelligence: Nature and origins of competence in the everyday world. New York: Cambridge University Press.

46.

Strough

Berg

C. A.

, & Sansone

(1996). Goals for solving everyday problems across the life span: Age and gender differences in salience of interpersonal concerns. Developmental Psychology, 32, 1106–1115.

47.

Strough

Cheng

, & Swenson

(2002). Preferences for collaborative and individual everyday problem solving in later adulthood. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 26, 26–35.

48.

Strough

Leszczynski

J. P.

Neely

T. L.

Flinn

J. A.

, & Margrett

(2007). From adolescence to later adulthood: Femininity, masculinity and androgyny in six age groups. Sex Roles, 57, 385–396.

49.

Strough

McFall

J. P.

Flinn

J. A.

, & Schuller

K. L.

(2008). Collaborative everyday problem solving among same-gender friends in early and later adulthood. Psychology and Aging, 23, 517–530.

50.

Strough

Patrick

J. H.

, & Swenson

L. M.

(2003). Strategies for solving everyday problems faced by grandparents: The role of experience. In Hayslip

& Patrick

J. H.

(Eds.), Working with custodial grandparents (pp. 257–275). New York: Springer.

51.

Strough

Patrick

J. H.

Swenson

Cheng

, & Barnes

K. A.

(2003). Collaborative everyday problem solving: Interpersonal relationships and problem dimensions. The International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 56, 43–66.

52.

Taylor

S. E.

Klein

L. C.

Lewis

Gruenewald

, & Gurung

R. A. R.

(2000). The female stress response: Tend and befriend not fight or flight. Psychological Review, 107, 411–429.

53.

Turk-Charles

Meyerowitz

B. E.

, & Gatz

(1997). Age differences in information-seeking among cancer patients. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 45, 85–98.

54.

Twenge

J. M.

(1997). Changes in masculine and feminine traits over time: A metaanalysis. Sex Roles, 36, 305–325.

55.

Watson

T. L.

, & Blanchard-Fields

(1998). Thinking with your head and your heart: Age differences in everyday problem-solving strategy preferences. Aging, Neuropsychology and Cognition, 5, 225–240.