Health concordance within couples: A systematic review

Meyler, Deanna; Stimpson, Jim P.; Peek, M. Kristen

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2007.02.007

Cited by 474 publications

(529 citation statements)

References 109 publications

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“…These results are in line with findings in social psychology, which have consistently documented a similarity in mental illness, depressive symptoms, and distress between spouses (Meyler et al 2007;Monden 2007), and with those in sociology reporting a positive effect of partner interactions on well-being, happiness, and life satisfaction (Horwitz et al 1998). We also documented that as the couples got older their concordance increases, which had already been noticed in studies of clinical medicine (Cheraskin et al 1968;Johnson et al 1965).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Similarity of Perceived Health Between Household Members: The “Mutual Influences” Hypothesis

Giannantoni

Egidi

2018

A Demographic Perspective on Gender, Family and Health in Europe

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Similarity of Perceived Health Between Household Members: The “Mutual Influences” Hypothesis

Giannantoni

Egidi

2018

A Demographic Perspective on Gender, Family and Health in Europe

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“…Following the keyword search, we carried out a backward search, in which we located papers by examining the reference lists of all papers identified from the first step (Meyler et al ., 2007). This did not identify any further articles meeting the criteria.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many health behaviours are concordant across couples (Meyler, Stimpson, & Peek, 2007), including dietary intake (Macario & Sorensen, 1998) and smoking (Graham & Braun, 1999; Stimpson, Masel, Rudkin, & Peek, 2006). This is partly due to assortative mating (the fact that couples with similar characteristics are more likely to marry) and mate selection, but may also reflect the influence spouses have on each other's health behaviours (Wilson, 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health behaviour change interventions for couples: A systematic review

Arden‐Close

McGrath

2017

British J Health Psychol

150

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ObjectivesPartners are a significant influence on individuals’ health, and concordance in health behaviours increases over time in couples. Several theories suggest that couple‐focused interventions for health behaviour change may therefore be more effective than individual interventions.DesignA systematic review of health behaviour change interventions for couples was conducted.MethodsSystematic search methods identified randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and non‐randomized interventions of health behaviour change for couples with at least one member at risk of a chronic physical illness, published from 1990–2014.ResultsWe identified 14 studies, targeting the following health behaviours: cancer prevention (6), obesity (1), diet (2), smoking in pregnancy (2), physical activity (1) and multiple health behaviours (2). In four out of seven trials couple‐focused interventions were more effective than usual care. Of four RCTs comparing a couple‐focused intervention to an individual intervention, two found that the couple‐focused intervention was more effective.ConclusionsThe studies were heterogeneous, and included participants at risk of a variety of illnesses. In many cases the intervention was compared to usual care for an individual or an individual‐focused intervention, which meant the impact of the couplebased content could not be isolated. Three arm studies could determine whether any added benefits of couple‐focused interventions are due to adding the partner or specific content of couple‐focused interventions. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Health behaviours and health behaviour change are more often concordant across couples than between individuals in the general population.Couple‐focused interventions for chronic conditions are more effective than individual interventions or usual care (Martire, Schulz, Helgeson, Small, & Saghafi, 2010). What does this study add? Identified studies targeted a variety of health behaviours, with few studies in any one area.Further assessment of the effectiveness of couple‐focused versus individual interventions for those at risk is needed.Three‐arm study designs are needed to determine benefits of targeting couples versus couple‐focused intervention content.

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“…However, the universal protective nature of marriage has been challenged (Carr and Springer 2010). Again, the discussion is hindered by the wide use of cross-sectional designs, which make it impossible to discern to what extent the effects attributed to marriage can also be ascribed to premarital health habits and premarital socioeconomic conditions (Meyler et al 2007). Individual lives are not unwritten pages at the time of marriage.…”

Section: Principle 4: Linked Livesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Life Course Perspective on Health Trajectories and Transitions

Burton-Jeangros

Cullati

Sacker

et al. 2015

Life Course Research and Social Policies

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Life course research has been developing quickly these last decades for good reasons. Life course approaches focus on essential questions about individuals' trajectories, longitudinal analyses, cross-fertilization across disciplines like lifespan psychology, developmental social psychology, sociology of the life course, social demography, socio-economics, social history. Life course is also at the crossroads of several fields of specialization like family and social relationships, migration, education, professional training and employment, and health. This Series invites academic scholars to present theoretical, methodological, and empirical advances in the analysis of the life course, and to elaborate on possible implications for society and social policies applications.More information about this series at

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Health concordance within couples: A systematic review

Cited by 474 publications

References 109 publications

Similarity of Perceived Health Between Household Members: The “Mutual Influences” Hypothesis

Similarity of Perceived Health Between Household Members: The “Mutual Influences” Hypothesis

Health behaviour change interventions for couples: A systematic review

A Life Course Perspective on Health Trajectories and Transitions

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