Marital development, communication and happiness in portuguese newly retirees
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29352/mill0221.28045Keywords:
retirement; aging; family; spouses; communication; happinessAbstract
Introduction: Retirement is a transitional event, experienced by middle-aged individuals, and its consequences can interfere with their health status. Changing family structures are also changing patterns and experiences related to retirement. When both members of the couple are going through this transition, it may also be necessary to redefine the relationship as identities, patterns, roles, and expectations change.
Objective: To analyze the relationship between the experience of adaptation to retirement and the Marital Enrichment and Development, Communication and Happiness of Portuguese recent retirees.
Methods: A descriptive and quantitative study was carried out with occasionally selected middle-aged couples in family health units. Upon informed consent, the Enrichment and Marital Development, Communication and Happiness Inventory (ENRICH) was applied, and data were analyzed using IBM® SPSS27. All ethical and formal procedures were followed.
Results: The 32 couples who responded to the questionnaire and Inventory had a mean age of 61.31 (SD=5.08) years. The sample presented values of enrichment, marital development, communication and happiness within median parameters, and the conjugality was positively influenced by the retirement variable.
Conclusion: Newly retired people place enormous importance on family, particularly their spouse. When spouses affect the other member of the couple's decision making, they influence their satisfaction with their new status. There is a need to promote family health in a systemic way at this stage of the life cycle.
Downloads
References
Abreu-Afonso, J., Ramos, M. M., Queiroz-Garcia, I., & Leal, I. (2022). How couple's relationship lasts over time? A model for marital satisfaction. Psychological reports, 125(3), 1601–1627. https://doi.org/10.1177/00332941211000651
Alvarez-Bueno, C., Cavero-Redondo, I., Jimenez-Lopez, E., Visier-Alfonso, M. E., Sequi-Dominguez, I., & Martinez-Vizcaino, V. (2021). Effect of retirement on cognitive function: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Occupational and environmental medicine, 78(10), 761–768. https://doi.org/10.1136/oemed-2020-106892
Choi, H. (2021). Giving or receiving spouse care and marital satisfaction among older Korean individuals. Social science & medicine (1982), 272, 112071. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.12.012
Choi, S. Y., Kim, H. R., & Myong, J. P. (2020). The mediating effects of marital intimacy and work satisfaction in the relationship between husbands' domestic labor and depressive mood of married working women. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(12), 4547. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17124547
Fraser, R. N., Dalton, J. H., Burkhart, J. W., & Collins, J. T. (2021). Shared christian religious identity, religiousness, and marital satisfaction. The journal of pastoral care & counseling: JPCC, 75(2), 126–132. https://doi.org/10.1177/1542305021996229
Kasalova, P., Prasko, J., Holubova, M., Vrbova, K., Zmeskalova, D., Slepecky, M., & Grambal, A. (2018). Anxiety disorders and marital satisfaction. Neuro endocrinology letters, 38(8), 555–564.
Kowal, M., Groyecka-Bernard, A., Kochan-Wójcik, M., & Sorokowski, P. (2021). When and how does the number of children affect marital satisfaction? An international survey. PloS one, 16(4), e0249516. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0249516
Li, W., Ye, X., Zhu, D., & He, P. (2021). The Longitudinal Association Between Retirement and Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. American Journal of Epidemiology, 190(10), 2220–2230. https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwab125
Loureiro, H., Silva, M., Camarneiro, A., Pedreiro, A. & Mendes, A. (2022). REATIVA: An efficient health promotion program during retirement transition. European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education, 12(9), 1358-1368; https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe12090095
Lourenço, M. (2006). Casal: Conjugalidade e ciclo evolutivo [DoctoralThesis]. https://estudogeral.sib.uc.pt/handle/10316/973
Marques E. (2001). Amor e qualidade de vida conjugal: Aplicações do inventário ENRICH [Love and quality of married life: Applications of the ENRICH inventory]. Interacções, 1(1), 79–107. https://interacoes-ismt.com/index.php/revista/article/view/18
Mukku, S., Harbishettar, V., & Sivakumar, P. T. (2018). Psychological morbidity after job retirement: A review. Asian journal of psychiatry, 37, 58–63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2018.08.003
Nogueira, E., Martins, R., Carvalho, N., & Batista, S. (2022). Satisfaction with life perceived by the elderly. Millenium - Journal of Education, Technologies, and Health, 2(10e), 177–184. https://doi.org/10.29352/mill0210e.26873
Nunes, C., Ferreira, L. I., Martins, C., Pechorro, P., & Ayala-Nunes, L. (2022). The enrich marital satisfaction scale: Adaptation and psychometric properties among at-risk and community Portuguese parents. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 39(11), 3275–3295. https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075221095052
Pedreiro, A., Loureiro, M., & Loureiro, H. (2021). Gender differences in the transition to retirement. Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Gender Research, 248-253.
Scharn, M., Sewdas, R., Boot, C., Huisman, M., Lindeboom, M., & van der Beek, A. J. (2018). Domains and determinants of retirement timing: A systematic review of longitudinal studies. BMC public health, 18(1), 1083. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5983-7
Sheppard, F. H., & Stanford, D. (2019). Women's perceptions of retirement. Journal of gerontological nursing, 45(4), 31–39. https://doi.org/10.3928/00989134-20190221-01
Silva, M., Figueiredo, C. I., Costa, M. S., & Camarneiro, A. P. (2022). Empty nest couples’ conjugality’s and family interactions: Analysis based on the dynamic model of family assessment and intervention. Millenium - Journal of Education, Technologies, and Health, 2(18), 21–31. https://doi.org/10.29352/mill0218.26803
Yemiscigil, A., Powdthavee, N., & Whillans, A. V. (2021). The effects of retirement on sense of purpose in life: Crisis or opportunity? Psychological science, 32(11), 1856–1864. https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976211024248
Yorgason, J. B., Segel-Karpas, D., Wheeler, B. E., Malig Canlas, J., & Smith, J. (2020). Change in retirement plans among midlife couples during an economic recession. The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences, 75(4), 827–836. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbz076
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Millenium - Journal of Education, Technologies, and Health
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who submit proposals for this journal agree to the following terms:
a) Articles are published under the Licença Creative Commons (CC BY 4.0), in full open-access, without any cost or fees of any kind to the author or the reader;
b) The authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication, allowing the free sharing of work, provided it is correctly attributed the authorship and initial publication in this journal;
c) The authors are permitted to take on additional contracts separately for non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published in this journal (eg, post it to an institutional repository or as a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal;
d) Authors are permitted and encouraged to publish and distribute their work online (eg, in institutional repositories or on their website) as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as increase the impact and citation of published work
Documents required for submission
Article template (Editable format)
