UlmerT MFT 8307-10 Article critique older

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Running Head: ARTICLE CRITIQUE OLDER COUPLES ULMERT MFT 8307-10 NORTHCENTRAL UNIVERSITY ASSIGNMENT COVER SHEET Student: Tamara Ulmer THIS FORM MUST BE COMPLETELY FILLED IN Follow these procedures: If requested by your instructor, please include an assignment cover sheet. This will become the first page of your assignment. In addition, your assignment header should include your last name, first initial, course code, dash, and assignment number. This should be left justified, with the page number right justified. For example: UlmerT MFT 8307-10 Save a copy of your assignments: You may need to re-submit an assignment at your instructor’s request. Make sure you save your files in accessible location. Academic integrity: All work submitted in each course must be your own original work. This includes all assignments, exams, term papers, and other projects required by your instructor . Knowingly submitting another person’s work as your own, without properly citing the source of

ARTICLE CRITIQUE OLDER COUPLES ULMERT MFT 8307-10 1 the work, is considered plagiarism. This will result in an unsatisfactory grade for the work submitted or for the entire course. It may also result in academic dismissal from the University. MFT 8307 Dr. M. Shah The Couple Life Cycle in MFT ARTICLE CRITIQUE OLDER COUPLES ULMERT MFT 8307-10 Faculty Use Only <Faculty comments here> <Faculty Name> <Grade Earned> <Date Graded>

ARTICLE CRITIQUE OLDER COUPLES ULMERT MFT 8307-10 2 Tamara Ulmer Article Critique for Older Couples Northcentral University

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ARTICLE CRITIQUE OLDER COUPLES ULMERT MFT 8307-10 3 Article Critique Marriage and family therapy is a effective way to improve relationship distress, and is often the expected course of treatment when couples are faced with conflict (Lebow, Chambers, Christensen, & Johnson, 2012). The potential impact of relationship distress can result in higher level of physical and psychological health concerns in both partners. Additionally, Smith and Baron (2016) assert that relationships among couples is a key component in their life and the number of older couples in society continues to grow as the life expectancy grows. With the aging population there are additional strains on the relationship such as age-related health issues, such as intimacy, reduction of mobility and function. As elderly couples try to address theses concerns, the use of supportive services such as marriage and family therapy can help mitigate potential conflict within the marriage and increase marital satisfaction in the later years. The purpose of this paper is to summarize a scholarly article with a focus on relationships in older couples. The paper will review both the strengths and weakness of each section within the article authored by Jensen & Rauer (2015) entitled: Marriage work in older couples: Disclosure of marital problems to spouses and friends over time. Article Critique: Jensen, J.F. & Rauer, A. J., (2015). Marriage work in older couples: disclosure of marital problems to spouses and friends over time. Journal of Family Psychology 29 (5) 732- 743. A question that has been taught to this student is to always begin a review of the article with asking the question: Why is this important? This is a question that I look to be answered in the first paragraph of the journal. The strength of the introduction was that the authors reviewed why researching marriage work among older adults is needed. They asserted that as individuals age the perception of living a long life is reduced and as a result, they also reduce their social

ARTICLE CRITIQUE OLDER COUPLES ULMERT MFT 8307-10 4 network in order to “maximize emotional rewards” (p. 732). They further assert that the reduction of social network also increases an environment of emotional intimacy among the social network that will have a spillover effect in marriages. A strength of the introduction was also a brief overview of what is going to be explored in the literature review of the section ranging from the development of significant relationships in the earlier stages of life, middle life, and older population. It also discussed how the close friendships can contribute to lower martial intimacy due to the sensitive nature of conversation between friends in regard to family and life stress, resulting in partners not engaging in the same type of conversations which can contribute to increase martial satisfaction and connectedness. Literature review The literature review covered three main topic areas: The impact of retirement on marital satisfaction, socioemotional selectivity theory, and marriage work; what we know. The first topic area which covered martial satisfaction in the retirement years had a compelling strength. It reviewed several longitudinal studies that discussed the changes marriages go through at the onset of retirement and years later. By using studies at different times of retirement offered a clear picture of the changes that couples can go through. Discussion seemed to be focused on the wife’s perspective on marital satisfaction and the new roles within the marriage due to retirement. Additionally, another strength of this section was the link to retirement and the reduction of the social network in aging couples and the influence the social network has on marriage satisfaction. A weakness of this topic section was the failure to offer the husband perspective of retirement and their impression of marital satisfaction as it can be very different from their wives.

ARTICLE CRITIQUE OLDER COUPLES ULMERT MFT 8307-10 5 The second topic that was covered was the socioemotional selectivity theory (SST). The authors revisited the theory that older adults reduce their social network in order to enhance emotional and social gains. Like the first topic, athe strength of this section was the authors offered supportive research that demonstrated the validity of SST and the benefits of pruning the social network. there was a brief comparison of the social network between younger adults and older adults. They asserted that older adults were more likely to report greater satisfaction in their relationships than younger adults due to older individuals having more time for meaningful conversations because they are not juggling work and children at the same level of intensity as the younger population. The weakness of this section is that it did not offer any contradictory information or weakness of SST. Additionally, further exploration of how SST can assist or hurt older couples in the realm of transition to retirement, health concerns, or illness. The third topic of “Marriage work (MW)”: what we know was the strongest section in my opinion. It offered a comprehensive review of the intersection between social and family relationships. The authors gathered information from studies that covered a time span of 59 years from 1955 to 2014. The biggest strength of this section was that it covered both the husband and wife perspective of the impact of social support on marital satisfaction. Also, not only did they review information from the gender difference, but also from a socioeconomic standpoint. Despite, this strong section the only weakness I could identify was that it did not offer the impact of marriage work on older couples. It appeared that most of the information offered was on couples who had not retired, where the biggest cohort was the younger generation. Current Study The strength of this section was that it linked the introduction and literature review sections together, demonstrating a need to not only identify the process of retirement in marriage

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ARTICLE CRITIQUE OLDER COUPLES ULMERT MFT 8307-10 6 satisfaction, but to also understand that process for enhances well-being and family functioning. The authors clearly identified four key questions related to MW and the interactions of their social network. The four questions are: 1. “do older adults disclose martial issues more frequently to spouses or friends, and are there gender differences? 2. Does the frequency of MW with spouses and friends change over the course of 1 year? 3. Do MW behaviors with a spouse and friend predict change in marital satisfaction and conflict? 4. Do marital satisfaction and conflict predict change in MW behaviors over time?” (p.734) The authors limited the time to retired couples and marital duration. The authors hypothesized the married couples will engaged in MW behaviors more consistently with their spouse than with friends and the couples would report a higher level of marital satisfaction and less conflict. This section appeared to be sound and due to my inexperience and knowledge in this demographic a weakness was not able to be identified. Method The requirement to participate in the study consisted of being either retired or semi- retired (working less than 35 hours a week), the couples had to be married, and be able to drive. There were 64 couples who participated in this study. The average age of participants were 70 years of age, the majority of the couples were white with an average median of wealth was Approximately $750,000. Additionally, 79% of the couples were in their first marriage and married for an average of 42 years. The couples participated in several marriage tasks such as problem solving, and support task. Additionally, at the conclusion of the task the couples were given a questionnaire to assess individual, marital, and social satisfaction. The use of couples who have been married for at least over a quarter of a century, the application of tasks and completing a survey is a strength of this section. A weakness of this section was the lack of

ARTICLE CRITIQUE OLDER COUPLES ULMERT MFT 8307-10 7 ethnic backgrounds and socioeconomic status, as different cultures and economic status may vary in the way they communicate and rate their martial satisfaction in regards to the impact of their social network on their marriage. Measure Three different measured were used to ascertain the degree to which they brought up marital problems to a spouse or friend. There were three different self-report Likert scales used, the first scale consisted of 7 questions based off the Marriage Work Scale, which determined the frequency of discussions they had with a close friend not a spouse. With 1 indicating never and 9 indicating always. The second scale, explored marital satisfaction using a specific older persons marital satisfaction scale. The scores ranged from 1 to 6, with the higher the score the higher sastifaction in marriage. The third scale explored marital conflict. Participants completed an Intimate Relations questionnaire and subscale. This scale is designed to explore the behavior aspect of individuals when in a conflict with their spouse, it is a nine point scale with 1 indicating not at all, to 9 indicating very much. The use of different measures is a strength in this section as it allows for the researchers to get a holistic picture of the couples, their behaviors as couples and individuals in each supportive network. A weakness of this section is that the use of self -reports may create an opportunity for falsification of data, for fear that a couple may not want to hurt their spouse. Perhaps incorporating the results of their field observation when doing tasks, and their communication style would have been a useful in the measurement section. Data Analysis The researchers used descriptive analysis and t-test to determine the results of the questionnaire, and to simultaneously ascertain the use of MW on marital satisfaction. Another strength of the analysis section was the separation of marriage satisfaction and conflict due to the

ARTICLE CRITIQUE OLDER COUPLES ULMERT MFT 8307-10 8 small sample size. The researchers also use the chi-square statistic to determine goodness of fit. The use of theses methods are accepted among the scientific realm and adds validity to their results. The use of the quantitative method was strong, however this section could have been strengthened if the use of a mixed method research was used, and themes identified in the communication and interactions between spouses and their social network. Discussion The authors discussed their findings that wives were more likely than their husbands to discuss marital issues with their friends, however both parties discussed more issues with their partner than friends. Additionally, husband tended to use lessof the MW after one year than their wives. Finally the authors indicate that due to the readiness of older couples in discussing their issues with their partners they may not receive the same benefits as younger couples who receive MW. The rationale for this is that younger couples may see the benefits as it may reduce future conflict, whereas older couples may tend not to discuss problems as the benefits may not outweigh the cost. In other words, they tend to let things go, as they have a heightened awareness of mortality. A huge strength in the discussion section was the transparency of the results and the identification of where MW would be most beneficial. A weakness of the discussion section was the lack of information or recommendations of what treatment modalities could be used to help older couples as they transition into retirement. Discrepancies of article findings and personal knowledge of older adults As therapist who does not work in the older population the identification of any discrepancies was not identified. The articles that I researched in order to gain more awareness supported the notion that as we age, our social network is reduced. Additionally, the articles discussed how physical health impact the ability to maintain physical intimacy. In this area the

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ARTICLE CRITIQUE OLDER COUPLES ULMERT MFT 8307-10 9 above article did not discuss or explore how physical health and reduction of sexual intimacy is impacted. Do wives talked to their friends about how menopause impacts their libido, do husband discuss with their friends their desire to be physically intimate with their wives and when that intimacy is reduce what is the impact they have on their self esteem and belief about the level on importance in the relationship. This exploration of the aging population has increase my awareness of my lack of knowledge and the importance of further exploration of family and marriage treatment strategies that address the aging couple population.

ARTICLE CRITIQUE OLDER COUPLES ULMERT MFT 8307-10 10 Reference Jensen, J.F. & Rauer, A. J., (2015). Marriage work in older couples: disclosure of marital problems to spouses and friends over time. Journal of Family Psychology 29 (5) 732-743. Lebow, J. L., Chambers, A.L., Christensen, A., & Johnson, S.M. (2012). Research on the treatment of couple distress. Journal of Marital Family Therapy 38 (2): 158-194. Smith, T. W., & Baron, C. E. (2016). Marital discord in the later years. American Psycological Association. Retrieved from: http://proxy1.ncu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=pzh&AN=2015-53342-003&site=ehost-live

UlmerT MFT 8307-10 Article critique older

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