RELIGIOUS DIFFERENCE, MARITAL SATISFACTION, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING OF CHINESE MIDDLE-AGED AND OLDER ADULTS

Abstract Objectives: Religion plays an important role in people’s individual and interpersonal life. Spousal religious difference is a potential risk factor of marital satisfaction, which will further influence people’s psychological well-being. This study aims to explore the associations between spousal religious differences, marital satisfaction, and psychological well-being of Chinese middle-aged and older adults. We also investigated the gender differences in the captioned associations. Method: We adopted a sample of 1285 adults aged 45 and above from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). We conducted descriptive statistics, multiple regression models and a path analysis based on a general structural equation model (GSEM). Results: Spousal religious difference was only associated with wives’ marital satisfaction. Marital satisfaction was associated with depression and life satisfaction for both genders, and wives’ marital satisfaction had a stronger association with life satisfaction than husbands’. Wives’ marital satisfaction mediated the relationship between spousal religious difference and their psychological well-being, including depression and life satisfaction. Discussion: This study calls for more further research on the individual and interpersonal outcomes of religiosity in middle-aged and older adults. Gender differences should be paid attention to in academic research, service provision and clinical settings.


MARRIAGE, DIVORCE, AND SEXUAL HEALTH AFRICAN AMERICAN FAITH LEADERS IN FLINT, MICHIGAN, FACILITATING ACCESS TO SEXUAL HEALTH INFORMATION
Charles R. Senteio 1 , 1. Rutgers University School of Communication and Information, New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States In 2006, to respond to the HIV pandemic, the Flint-based YOUR Center collaborated with the National Coalition of Pastors' Spouses to create an HIV Awareness and Prevention manual for African American faith communities.In 2006 this manual was transformed into Your Blessed Health (YBH), a community-level education and prevention intervention that provides HIV/STI health information to medically underserved communities throughout Michigan.Since then, YBH has trained over 200 faith leaders across 9 denominations in over 80 FBOs across Michigan to help disseminate information concerning the community-level impact of HIV.The YBH impact on congregants and community members has been detailed in peer-reviewed articles and presentations; however, the involvement of the faith leaders themselves has not been described.To address this gap in the literature, we conducted semi-structured interviews with African American faith leaders representing 20+ congregations in Flint who participated in YBH and welcomed the intervention into their congregations.Preliminary results show that faith leaders, whose median age is 65, embraced their role as conduits to health information in the interest of ministering to the "whole person".They remain committed to educating themselves, and their congregants, to providing health information for various health and wellness issues.Detailing this impact is critical because community-health education and promotion literature suggests that older adult faith leaders can facilitate access to sexual health information through faith-based organizations, and may possess untapped potential as sources of health information across various health conditions.Older adult faith leaders are vital sources of information for medically underserved communities.

EXPLORING THE CAREGIVING CAREER: VARIATIONS IN SPOUSES' CONCERNS
Marie Y. Savundranayagam, 1 and Kaitlyn Terrana 1 , 1.Western University, London, Ontario, Canada Caregiver identity theory posits that family caregivers' relationship identity changes across five phases of the caregiving career.As the career unfolds, the relationship identity changes from one comprised primarily of the spousal role (phase 1) to one comprised equally by spousal and caregiver roles (phase 3), and one comprised primarily by the caregiver role (phase 5).This study investigated whether spouses/partners' most important concerns about caregiving varied across the caregiving career.Participants included 135 caregivers of spouses/ partners with a chronic condition.They were asked to identify their most important concern related to caregiving, along with demographic questions.Thematic analyses of their concerns yielded eight themes focused on the caregiver or dyad.Caregiver focused themes included burden, providing best possible care, worry about ability to care, physical health, financial concerns, and needing/managing help.Dyadic themes were communication and relational deprivation.Differences across the caregiving career were found in terms of ranked proportion of concerns.The most common concerns in phase 1 were equally distributed across communication, needing/ managing help, and providing best possible care.Phase 2's most common concern was providing the best possible care.Phase 3's most common concern was worry about ability to care.The most common concerns in phase 4 were equally distributed across burden and worry about ability to care.Phase 5's most common concern was burden.Findings reveal there are differential concerns across the caregiving career that align with a greater focus on relational factors earlier in the career and caregiver burden later in the career.

PERSONAL GROWTH AFTER GRAY DIVORCE: A LONGITUDINAL VIEW ON THE DISSOLUTION OF LONG-TERM MARRIAGES
Claudia Recksiedler, 1 Katharina Loter, 2 Oliver Arránz Becker, 2 and Pasqualina Perrig-Chiello 3 , 1. German Youth Institute, Munich, Germany, 2. University of Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany, 3. University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland Going through a divorce is one of the most stressful life events across the life course with far-reaching ripple effects for individuals' physical, mental, and often financial well-being.For some individuals, however, coping with marital dissolution and adapting to new social roles may lead to considerable gains in their reorientation in life and stimulate their personal development.This is captured in the concept of personal growth, which has been studied primarily in the context of becoming widowed, and through a cross-sectional lens.In our study, we track trajectories of personal growth after ending a long-term marriage of at least 15 years.We focus on divorce among adults in their second half of life because rates of grey divorce have been on the rise since the 1980s, yet longitudinal research on personal growth after marital dissolution remains sparse.We further examine whether trajectories of personal growth vary by gender, SES, reasons of divorce (e.g., sexual infidelity or drifted apart), and social support.Data stem from a Swiss panel on intimate relationships and marital dissolution among long-term married individuals conducted between 2012 and 2016 (N = 530).Randomeffects group-specific growth curve models yielded similarand slightly decreasing-trajectories of personal growth for divorced women and men over time.However, highly significant gender differences indicated that women showed higher levels of personal growth over the whole observation period.Because gender differences seemed to be fueled by social capital rather than economic assets, we discuss these results through the lens of a linked-lives perspective.

RELIGIOUS DIFFERENCE, MARITAL SATISFACTION, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING OF CHINESE MIDDLE-AGED AND OLDER ADULTS
Jia Li, 1 and Qi Wang 2 , 1.The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2. University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Objectives: Religion plays an important role in people's individual and interpersonal life.Spousal religious difference is a potential risk factor of marital satisfaction, which will further influence people's psychological well-being.This study aims to explore the associations between spousal religious differences, marital satisfaction, and psychological well-being of Chinese middle-aged and older adults.We also investigated the gender differences in the captioned associations.Method: We adopted a sample of 1285 adults aged 45 and above from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS).We conducted descriptive statistics, multiple regression models and a path analysis based on a general structural equation model (GSEM).Results: Spousal religious difference was only associated with wives' marital satisfaction.Marital satisfaction was associated with depression and life satisfaction for both genders, and wives' marital satisfaction had a stronger association with life satisfaction than husbands'.Wives' marital satisfaction mediated the relationship between spousal religious difference and their psychological well-being, including depression and life satisfaction.Discussion: This study calls for more further research on the individual and interpersonal outcomes of religiosity in middle-aged and older adults.Gender differences should be paid attention to in academic research, service provision and clinical settings.

THE TRANSFORMATION OF LATE-LIFE SINGLEHOOD: EMERGENCE OF THE SOCIETY OF DIVORCEES
Torbjorn Bildtgard, 1 and Peter Öberg 2 , 1. Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden, 2. University of Gävle, Gävle, Sweden More than four decades ago Lopata coined the concept "society of widows" to describe the gendered reality of late life singlehood, where widowed women were excluded from coupled social life and had to depend on other widows for social integration.We have coined the concept "society of divorcees" to describe the changing reality of late life singlehood.Swedish, American and EU census data and a national survey to Swedes 60-90 years old (n=1225; response rate 42%).Results show that more people enter later life as divorcees or become divorced at a high age.Among Swedes 60+ divorcees outnumber widowed people, and the incidence of late life divorce has more than doubled since the millennium in what has been called the grey divorce revolution.Many other Western countries follow the same demographic trend, posing important questions about late life singlehood.Based on two Swedish studies we will show that the structure of the late life single community is becoming less gender skewed as a consequence of the emerging society of divorcees, and that in this society relationship careers are increasingly complex, attitudes to repartnering increasingly liberal and partner sanctification seldom an issue.We conclude by discussing the consequences of the emerging society of divorcees for late life support structures.

MULTIPLE FACTORS INFLUENCING SUCCESSFUL AGING
Chair: Heather Fuller, North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota, United States Empirically-based theories on successful aging have emphasized the multidimensional nature of aging well, including physical health and functioning, cognitive and emotional well-being, and social connectedness and engagement (e.g., Rowe & Kahn, 1987, Depp & Jeste, 2006).Yet, the field is still continuing to discover, deeply characterize, and better understand the biopsychosocial mechanisms through which varying social, physical, or cognitive activities may influence unique domains of successful aging.The current symposium builds on this growing body of research by addressing factors supporting successful aging across multiple dimensions of well-being and among a diversity of samples ranging from urban to rural, West Coast to Midwest, and community populations to professional athletes.Webster and Antonucci examine the links between social engagement and successful aging among affordable senior housing residents.They found that more frequent participation in social activities was associated with increases in life satisfaction over time.Toyama and Fuller examine how social engagement and health affect aging well, finding that older adults' subjective health plays a more important role than objective health in maintaining social integration over time.Similarly, Turner describes the role of social networks and religiosity for health outcomes among aging NFL athletes.Finally, Casaletto and colleagues examined mechanisms underlying cognitive wellness as an aspect of successful aging.They found that engagement in both physical and cognitive activities independently support brain health and cognitive reserve in late-life.Taken together, these presentations provide a diverse and broad perspective on how varying factors influence the multiple dimensions of successful aging.

LINKS BETWEEN SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT AND SUCCESSFUL AGING AMONG AFFORDABLE SENIOR HOUSING RESIDENTS
Noah J. Webster, 1 Noah Webster, 1 and Toni Antonucci 1 , 1.

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
We report on a study designed to integrate the convoy model of social relations with the successful aging model.The combined approach draws on the natural resources of interpersonal relations to promote successful aging thus minimizing risk of disease and disability, enhancing\maintaining mental and physical functioning, and facilitating continued engagement in life.We describe the MacHouse Affordable Housing Study, a field experiment conducted in an affordable senior housing community.The experiment involved a resident driven intensive intervention program designed to increase social activities and engagement.Based on an extensive needs assessment and interviews with the resident council as well as individual residents a program of activities was developed.This included group meals, an exercise program that included a walking group and an exercise class, communal gardens, computer classes and resident outings.Results indicate that more frequent participation in these activities was associated with increased life satisfaction over time.

WHICH ASPECTS OF HEALTH PREDICT LATE-LIFE SOCIAL INTEGRATION OVER TIME?
Masahiro Toyama, 1 Masahiro Toyama, 1 and Heather R. Fuller 1 , 1. North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota, United States