Discordance in gender role attitudes between spouses is significantly associated with higher systolic blood pressure, higher triglycerides, lower HDL cholesterol, and higher TG:HDL-C ratio among wives but not husbands, independent of individual attitudes or other risk factors.
Cross-Sectional (n=616)
Yes
Does discordance in gender role attitudes between spouses increase cardiovascular risk biomarkers in older married couples?
Discordance in gender role attitudes between spouses is associated with worse cardiovascular risk biomarker profiles in older wives, highlighting the importance of couple-level psychosocial dynamics in cardiovascular health.
p-value: p=significant (exact p-values not provided) for SBP, TG, HDL-C, TG:HDL-C ratio in wives only; no significant association for hsCRP
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is prevalent among older adults, but studies often focus on individual spouses rather than couple dynamics. This study examines how interplay between spouses—specifically discordance in gender role attitudes—relates to CVD risk biomarkers, using couple-matched data from the Korean Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (KSHAP) on 308 older married couples (616 individuals). Actor-partner interdependence models (APIM) reveal that discordant gender role attitudes are significantly associated with higher CVD risk markers—higher systolic blood pressure, higher triglycerides (TG), lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and a higher TG: HDL-C ratio—among wives only. These associations persist after adjusting for individual-level risk factors, including marital quality, sociodemographics, health behaviors, and depressive symptoms. However, no significant association is found with high-sensitivity C-reactive protein. Two groups of wives are identified as being at the greatest risk for CVD: traditional wives with egalitarian husbands and egalitarian wives with traditional husbands.
Sung et al. (Tue,) conducted a cross-sectional in Older married couples (aged 60+ women, 65+ men) living in rural Korean villages with cardiovascular disease risk biomarkers measured (n=616). Discordance in spouses' gender role attitudes vs. Concordant gender role attitudes between spouses was evaluated on Cardiovascular disease risk biomarkers including systolic blood pressure (SBP), triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), TG:HDL-C ratio, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) (p=significant (exact p-values not provided) for SBP, TG, HDL-C, TG:HDL-C ratio in wives only; no significant association for hsCRP). Discordance in gender role attitudes between spouses is significantly associated with higher systolic blood pressure, higher triglycerides, lower HDL cholesterol, and higher TG:HDL-C ratio among wives but not husbands, independent of individual attitudes or other risk factors.