Living Apart Together and Depressive Symptoms in Older Adulthood

Abstract

Guided by the perspective that intimate relationship types represent a continuum of social attachment, we assessed how living apart together (LAT) relationships are related to psychological well-being in later life. Using data from the 2011 Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS), we assessed levels of depressive symptoms by comparing LAT respondents (2.5%) with never married (2.5%), divorced (6.8%), widowed (10.4%), dating (2.8%), cohabiting (2.3%), remarried (15.1%), and first married (57.6%) men and women aged 51 and older (Total N = 7,924). However, the results did not support the theory of social attachment. The psychological well-being of men and women in LAT relationships was no different from either cohabiting or married adults. LAT relationships may have unique functions that help to reduce stress in later life. This study provides new insights about the psychological well-being of LAT adults.

Keywords:

• Cohabitation
• divorce
• marriage
• well-being
• widowhood

Acknowledgment

This research was supported in part by the Center for Family and Demographic Research, Bowling Green State University, which has core funding from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (P2CHD050959).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The study was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Grant Number P2CHD050959.