Dyadic loneliness, age, and cognitive functioning among midlife and older Black couples

Objectives: Within marriages, loneliness has been linked with individuals’ own and their partners’ cognitive health. Yet little research has situated Black older adults within a relational, dyadic context. Method: This study analyzed longitudinal dyadic data from the Health and Retirement Study (2010–2016; n = 1270 participants from 635 couples) from both partners in opposite-sex midlife and older couples where at least one partner reported being Black or African American. Results: Results indicated (1) husbands’ loneliness was associated with worse cognitive functioning 4 years later for wives who had high baseline cognitive functioning themselves; (2) wives’ loneliness was associated with worse cognitive functioning 4 years later only for oldest-old husbands; and (3) wives’ cognitive functioning was associated with slower increases to husbands’ loneliness 4 years later. Conclusion: Findings indicate that loneliness has dyadic consequences for cognitive functioning among older Black couples, but that context is crucial for determining who is at greatest risk of harmful repercussions from a partner’s loneliness.