Marital transitions during earlier adulthood and subsequent health and well-being in mid- to late-life among female nurses: An outcome-wide analysis

A Supplement to the Surgeon General’s Advisory “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation”

“…The empirical evidence for the importance of marriage is likewise robust. Meta-analyses and other studies have indicated notable effects of marital status on lower mortality risk (Manzoli et al, 2007;Wood et al, 2007;Chen et al, 2023). A recent study by Chen et al (2023) examined the long-term effects of the decision to marry on about twelve thousand female nurses, and found that, even after controlling for race, income, age, a range of important health behaviors, and the risk of adverse outcomes from marriage itself, including divorce, marriage was associated with greater life satisfaction, greater mental and physical health, and even a 35 percent reduction in all-cause mortality.…”

“…Meta-analyses and other studies have indicated notable effects of marital status on lower mortality risk (Manzoli et al, 2007;Wood et al, 2007;Chen et al, 2023). A recent study by Chen et al (2023) examined the long-term effects of the decision to marry on about twelve thousand female nurses, and found that, even after controlling for race, income, age, a range of important health behaviors, and the risk of adverse outcomes from marriage itself, including divorce, marriage was associated with greater life satisfaction, greater mental and physical health, and even a 35 percent reduction in all-cause mortality. And a meta-analysis of longitudinal studies of the effects of marital status on health found substantial protective effects for both sexes, but stronger reductions in all-cause mortality for men than for women (Wang et al, 2020;cf.…”

“…Of course, not all of these causes are necessarily appropriate targets for policy measures and interventions, but it is important to at least better understand how the various changes came about. It is moreover the case that marriage itself has important effects on social support and social connection (Marks and Lambert, 1998;Waite and Gallagher, 2000;Chen et al, 2023), with marriage also still being a desired goal for a large portion of Americans. Understanding the trends in the decline of marriage rates is thus important.…”

State-Run Dating Apps: Are They Morally Desirable?

“…Whereas there are different reasons (more will be discussed in the next section), the one I want to concentrate on here is that gratuitously prolonging such quests for years or even months can, and often will, have considerable costs for them personally. To appreciate this, it should be observed that romantic relationships on average have a significant positive impact on people’s wellbeing, including that of women (Chen et al, 2023 ; Ge et al, 2020 ; Londero-Santos et al, 2021 ), with some studies finding that married people enjoy a 30 percentage point happiness advantage over their unmarried counterparts (Peltzman, 2023 ). Besides providing us with valuable goods such as emotional and physical intimacy (cf.…”

Moral controversies and academic public health: Notes on navigating and surviving academic freedom challenges

“…With an altered understanding of marriage, focused on fulfillment of spouses, and allowing for no-fault divorce, divorce rates sky-rocketed [ 60 , 83 ]. Research suggests negative effects on average of divorce on the health and well-being of spouses [ 15 , 20 , 70 , [76] , [89] ] and perhaps even more notable negative effects on children [ [10] , [11] , [12] , 18 , 24 , 34 , 87 ]. This does not mean that divorce is never the right answer; there are faults of unfaithfulness or abuse, for example, which may render divorce the best option; and single parents and their children should be strongly supported, like all others, and can be enabled to flourish, especially with such strong support.…”