Spousal health concordance is observed within a community sample of 400 disabled and non-disabled adults and their spouses from Miami-Dade County to access the value of broadening the definition of spousal health concordance to include concepts of general health status. Concordance is identified within similar (substance use disorder and substance use disorder) and across dissimilar (any psychiatric disorder and high depressive symptoms) measures of physical and mental health status. Findings suggest substantial risk for illness in respondents is associated with spousal health status, and that this risk is not limited to the same forms of disease. Additionally, evidence is presented in support of the use of aggregate measures of general health status in conjunction with more specific indicators.
Follow-up analyses assess the role of psychosocial resources, stress exposure, social support, and health behaviors in shaping risk for poor health associated with spousal illness. Evidence suggests that these factors may partially explain this elevated risk, but only for some forms of concordance. Additionally, which factors matter for concordance appears to vary depending on the form of health status under consideration. The consequences of this analysis for existing theories of spousal health concordance are discussed.
