Abstract
Using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model, this study examined how spouses’ characteristics influence their own and each other’s advance directive (AD) completion. Health and Retirement data on 2,243 heterosexual married couples 65+ were analyzed. Both one’s own age and spouse’s age were positively associated with a higher likelihood of completing an AD. The worse a spouse’s health, the less likely the other spouse would have an AD. Men’s education was positively associated with AD completion for both spouses, but women’s education only increased their own likelihood of having an AD. Men’s prior hospitalization or outpatient surgery also increased the likelihood of having an AD for both themselves and their wives, whereas women’s hospitalization/surgery had no significant effect on either spouse. These findings highlight the need to account for the characteristics and experiences of both husbands and wives in advance care planning research and point to important gender differences in spousal influences.