Partnership Trajectories and Older Adults' Supportive and Strained Friendship Ties: Do Patterns Differ for Men and Women?

We examine prospectively associations between partnership statuses/transitions and friend support/strain, and gender differences therein, among U.S. older adults. Data are from the 2006-2022 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (N = 13,495). Multivariable analyses are adjusted for health, sociodemographic, and personality covariates, and baseline friend support and strain. Married and cohabiting persons report less friendship support and strain than their divorced, widowed, or never married counterparts, with married and cohabiting men reporting significantly less support than their female counterparts. We find modest evidence that the recent death of a spouse weakens friend support and increases strain. Persons who formed new partnerships during the study period report more friend support and strain, although effects attenuate after adjusting for baseline friendship ties. Our results are broadly consistent with "marriage as a greedy institution" perspectives; we discuss the potential implications of partnered men's tenuous friendships for their later-life well-being.