The Association Between Close Relationships and Happiness Among Older Adults

Close relationships have long been recognized as crucial in shaping older adults' happiness and well-being. This study investigated the longitudinal association between close relationships (including those with a spouse, children, and friends) and happiness among older adults using random intercept cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPMs), explicitly capturing changes over time. We pooled waves 10-11, 12-13, and 14-15 from the RAND file of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Our analytic sample included 15,758 individuals aged 50 years and older (Mean age = 67.14). We ran three RI-CLPMs to examine how close relationships with spouse, children, and friends affect the happiness of older adults. All models demonstrated a good fit with the data (spouse's model, χ² (df = 7) = 6.979, p = .43, comparative fit index [CFI] = TLI = 1.00; children's model, χ² (df = 8) = 13.91, p = .08, CFI = TLI = 1.00; friend's model, χ² (df = 8) = 17.35, p = .03, CFI = 0.999, TLI = 0.996). We also conducted a sensitivity analysis by computing models without missing data imputation. The results were mostly consistent with the initial analysis. In the initial waves, we did not find carry-over and spill-over effects between close relationships and happiness. However, carry-over effects were observed for models in the later waves. We also found that married individuals tended to be happier as they aged. Additionally, women were more likely to have close relationships with children and friends compared to men. These findings reinforce the dynamic nature of close relationships in later life, suggesting that long-term relationship stability contributes to happiness over time. Practical implications include encouraging companionship and communication within family networks and promoting peer support groups to strengthen social bonds and happiness in later adulthood.