| Sumario: | Objectives Although spousal support is critical for managing older adults' long-term care dependence, the role of different spousal coping behaviors in stress reactivity remains unclear. This study aimed to examine the effects of positive and negative spousal coping behaviors and partner discrepancies on stress reactivity among older adults in China. Methods Using 8,385 observations, an ecological momentary assessment study (N = 107 couples) investigated the occurrence of daily stressors and the immediate effect on negative affect (NA), as well as the moderating roles of spousal coping behaviors and their discrepancies in older adults. We measured 4 types of daily stressors, NA, spousal supportive, and negative coping behaviors as reported by each partner, and discrepancies in these coping behaviors between partners. Results Daily stressors were associated with higher NA, with health and home-related stressors showing the most consistent effects across partners. Supportive coping behaviors buffered the impact of three stressor types on NA for both partners. However, when wives experienced health or home-related stressors and perceived higher negative coping behaviors from their husbands, their NA reactivity increased. By contrast, greater discrepancies in coping behaviors, whether supportive or negative, significantly moderated NA only among husbands. Discussion These findings highlight the importance of fostering supportive coping strategies in daily interactions among older couples and suggest that interventions should be tailored to gendered coping mechanisms. Specifically, enhancing husbands' supportive coping may ease wives' emotional burden, while promoting similarity in coping may protect husbands from heightened negative affect.
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