The purpose of this supplement is to expand the scope of the original study of post-immigration health and health behavior change in women from the former Soviet Union to include their husbands. Immigration is a non-normative developmental transition that takes place in the context of the family system, and the acculturation patterns and health behaviors of husbands have been shown to influence their wives' health as well. Although significant decline in physical and psychological health has been documented cross-sectionally as immigrants live in the U.S. longer, longitudinal methods have not been used to systematically study acculturation and health, particularly in post-childbearing families. The ongoing study is designed to describe the early course of acculturation, identify relationships among acculturation, family adaptation, health behavior and health status, and determine points in the time that specific health practices have the greatest effect on health status indicators for women. This supplement will 1) examine correlates of physical and psychological health status in men from the FSU; 2) identify gender differences in acculturation, perceived family adaptation, health behaviors, and health status; 3) compare the impact of acculturation on family adaptation and health behaviors of husbands and their wives within the marital dyad; and 4) describe the effects of individual and dyadic factors on health status change in husbands and wives. The supplement will recruit husbands of participants in the ongoing study, who are women aged 40 to 70 years old, married with at least one child living in the U/S., and less than8 year post-migration at entry into the study. For the husbands, data collection will include questionnaires, 24-hour dietary recalls, and physical measures, assessed at baseline and 12 months later. Data analysis for the ongoing study employs hierarchical linear models to document within individual, and estimate group change over time. The supplement will enhance this study by introducing nested data analytic techniques to examine dyadic characteristics of married couples. The innovative analysis will reveal the impact that spouses have on each other's acculturation, health behaviors and health status. This study will provide essential information for developing family -based behavioral studies tailored to age and gender in a cultural context.
