Spousal Support and Loneliness Among Chinese Shidu Parents: An Actor-Partner Interdependence Mediation Model of Marital Quality

This study examined the mediating role of marital quality between perceived spousal support and loneliness among Chinese shidu parents (bereaved parents who have lost their only child), using 150 married couples (Mage = 61.48 years, SD = 7.08) as the unit of analysis. Participants completed measures of perceived spousal support, marital quality, and loneliness. Applying the actor-partner interdependence mediation model (APIMeM), we found that for both husbands and wives, their own perceived spousal support positively predicted their own marital quality, which in turn negatively predicted their own loneliness, with marital quality fully mediating these actor effects. Regarding the partner indirect effects, the pathway from husbands' perceived spousal support to wives' loneliness was mediated by wives' marital quality, while the reverse partner indirect effect (wives' perceived support → husbands' marital quality → husbands' loneliness) was non-significant. The findings underscore the importance of spousal support and marital quality in alleviating loneliness among bereaved parents in China, while also revealing a gendered dynamic in how perceived support transmits across partners.