Abstract

Purposes: This study aims to examine the moderating role of psychological resilience in the association between two common marital relationship stressors (poor spousal health and low marital satisfaction) and sleep (sleep quality and sleep duration) among older adults in China.

Methods: This study used four waves of data from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (2008-2018) (N = 8769), and mixed-effects logistic models were used.

Results: Poor spousal health and low marital satisfaction were independently associated with increased odds of poor sleep quality and short sleep duration, and decreased odds of long sleep duration. Greater psychological resilience was associated with increased odds of good sleep quality and decreased odds of short sleep duration, but had no significant effect on long sleep duration. In addition, psychological resilience moderated the odds of poor spousal health and low marital satisfaction on the risk of short sleep duration among older Chinese adults.

Conclusion: The findings provide novel evidence for the increased importance of marital stress and psychological resilience on sleep health in later life. Policy interventions are needed to support vulnerable older adults who experience poor spousal health and/or low marital satisfaction.