Marital Status, Marital Transitions, and Health: A Gendered Life Course Perspective

Abstract

We work from a life course perspective to assess the impact of marital status and marital transitions on subsequent changes in the self-assessed physical health of men and women. Our results suggest three central conclusions regarding the association of marital status and marital transitions with self-assessed health. First, marital status differences in health appear to reflect the strains of marital dissolution more than they reflect any benefits of marriage. Second, the strains of marital dissolution undermine the self-assessed health of men but not women. Finally, life course stage is as important as gender in moderating the effects of marital status and marital transitions on health.Married individuals are, on average, healthier than their unmarried counterparts, and men appear to receive more benefits from marriage than women (Hemstrom 1996;Lillard and Waite 1995;Rogers 1995). Recent research, however, raises serious questions about this general conclusion. An alternative explanation is that marital status differences in health result from the substantial but transient strains of marital dissolution. Despite much speculation about the processes responsible for marital status differences in health, most attempts to answer this question have been constrained by the use of cross-sectional data. We employ nationally representative longitudinal data to examine the impact of transitions into and out of marriage on the self-assessed health status of men and women. Further, we consider whether the effects of marital transitions on men's and women's physical health endure or attenuate with time.We also integrate a life course perspective with research and theory on marriage and health to investigate whether the benefits of being married or the strains of marital dissolution differentially affect the health of young, mid-life, and older men and women. The life course perspective suggests that the timing of role transitions and statuses influences their effects on well-being (Elder 1985; see George 1993). Applying a life course framework to research

Diabetes in South African older adults: prevalence and impact on quality of life and functional disability – as assessed using SAGE Wave 1 data

“…In addition, diabetes status per se was associated with poor quality of life and disability, as were socio-economic status (low education), being in a low wealth quintile, having a poor employment history, marital status (not being in a partnership), lifestyle habits (low physical activity, history of alcohol use) and co-morbid conditions. In accordance with previous studies, we found that having  diabetes [20–22], having lower formal education levels [23–25], being in a low socioeconomic group [26,27], not being in a marital relationship [28,29] and not having worked [30,31] were significantly associated with poor quality of life and a high level of disability, but unlike findings in other studies [32–35], being older and being female were not associated with a high level of disability 20–2223–25 26,27 28,29]30,31 32–35 The differences in findings in this study compared to others may relate to the use of different instruments to assess the quality of life and disability, as well as the use of diabetes-specific and generic measures across studies.…”

On the promotion of human flourishing

“…However, the existing longitudinal studies indicate, like the cross-sectional studies, that marriage is associated with higher life satisfaction (39,43) and greater affective happiness (44). Evidence moreover suggests that marriage is associated with better mental health, physical health, and longevity, even controlling for baseline health (45)(46)(47)(48)(49)(50)(51)(52)(53)(54)(55). Concerning character and virtue, although understudied and current outcome measures are inadequate, there is longitudinal evidence that marriage is associated with higher level of personal growth (44), and with a reduction in crime for those at high risk (56).…”

Life Outcomes of Childless Men and Fathers

“…Cohabiting men and especially married men have more contacts with their family (Eggebeen, 2005), are more strongly attached to the labour force (Rindfuss and VandenHeuvel, 1990) and have higher levels of physical health and psychological well-being (Coombs, 1991;Waite, 1995;Akerlof, 1998;Brown, 2000;Brown, Bulanda, and Lee, 2005;Woo and Raley, 2005). Furthermore, experiencing dissolution of a partnership is related to men's psychological, social, health, and economic activities and well-being as well; divorced men have less contact with their family (Gerstel, 1988), exhibit less healthy behaviour (Williams and Umberson, 2004), are less committed to their occupational careers (Kalmijn, 2005), and are more distressed (Wallerstein and Blakeslee, 1990;Booth and Amato, 1991). To find out whether differences between childless men and fathers are attributable to partnership history, we explicitly take partnership history into account in our analyses.…”