Reciprocity and personality in diet-related spousal involvement among older couples managing diabetes: The role of gender

Spouses are commonly involved in the dietary aspect of their partners' diabetes management. Older spouses also may be managing their own condition, however, that requires changes to their diet. Given established gender differences in diet-related spousal involvement, gender therefore may be a more important factor than patient status in understanding this type of involvement. In this study, we sought to understand the reciprocity of diet-related support and control (persuasion and pressure), whether personality traits were related to the engagement in this type of involvement, and whether gender moderated these associations. We used data from a cross-sectional survey of 148 couples (50+ years old) in which at least one member had type 2 diabetes. Engagement in support, persuasion, and pressure were moderately correlated within couples, and women engaged in more frequent support and control of their partners' diet than men. Using Actor Partner Interdependence Models that controlled for race/ethnicity, marital quality, responsibility for managing meals, and patient status, we found that extraversion was associated with engagement in spousal support and persuasion, whereas neuroticism and conscientiousness were associated with engagement in spousal pressure. Associations were particularly pronounced for men. The findings suggest that there is a moderate amount of reciprocity, as well as gender and personality differences, in diet-related spousal involvement.