Midlife family financial strain, sense of control and pain in later years: An investigation of rural husbands and wives

Research focussing on individual biopsychosocial processes leading to physical pain as a health condition is rare. The present study investigated sense of control as a mechanism linking early midlife stress to later‐life physical pain for husbands and wives in long‐term marriages. Using data from 508 rural husbands and wives over 27 years (1991–2017) with respondents in their early middle years (67 years on average) in 2017, this study utilized a comprehensive analytical model in an structural equation modelling framework. Family financial stress (FFS) trajectories in early middle years were associated with depleted sense of control, which was related to increased physical pain in later years after controlling for concurrent physical illness, family income and age. In cross‐lagged analyses FFS influenced physical pain over mid‐later years. Physical pain also influenced FFS, suggesting a bi‐directional association between FFS and physical pain. Findings elucidate how early midlife FFS influences the progression of physical pain over mid‐later years through sense of control. Findings suggest effective intervention and prevention programs should focus on FFS in early years of adulthood as well as the maintenance and development of adults' sense of control.