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Marital quality, marital dissolution, and mortality risk during the later life course

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  • Bulanda, Jennifer Roebuck
  • Brown, J. Scott
  • Yamashita, Takashi

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between later-life marital quality, marital dissolution, and mortality using discrete-time event history models with data from nine waves (1992–2008) of the Health and Retirement Study (n = 7388). Results show marital status is more important for men's mortality risk than women's, whereas marital quality is more important for women's survival than men's. Being widowed or divorced more than two years raises mortality risk for men, but later-life marital dissolution is not significantly associated with women's mortality risk, regardless of the type of dissolution or length of time since it occurred. Low-quality marital interaction is negatively related to women's odds of death, but none of the marital quality measures are significantly associated with mortality for men. Marital satisfaction moderates the relationship between widowhood and mortality for women, but the relationship between marital dissolution and mortality is similar for men regardless of marital quality prior to divorce/widowhood. Results suggest the importance of accounting for both marital status and marital quality when examining older individuals' mortality risk.

Suggested Citation

  • Bulanda, Jennifer Roebuck & Brown, J. Scott & Yamashita, Takashi, 2016. "Marital quality, marital dissolution, and mortality risk during the later life course," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 119-127.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:165:y:2016:i:c:p:119-127
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.07.025
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    Cited by:

    1. Miika Mäki & Anna Erika Hägglund & Anna Rotkirch & Sangita Kulathinal & Mikko Myrskylä, 2022. "Stable marital histories predict happiness and health across educational groups," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2022-035, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    2. Sarah R. Brauner-Otto & William G. Axinn & Dirgha J. Ghimire, 2020. "Parents’ Marital Quality and Children’s Transition to Adulthood," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(1), pages 195-220, February.
    3. Kim, Jinho & Kwon, Keun Young, 2024. "Marital dissatisfaction and functional performance in older adults: Heterogeneity in the association by educational level," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 340(C).
    4. Tosi, Marco & van den Broek, Thijs, 2020. "Gray divorce and mental health in the United Kingdom," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 256(C).
    5. Haan, Peter & Hammerschmid, Anna & Schmieder, Julia, 2019. "Mortality in midlife for subgroups in Germany," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 14.
    6. Elizabeth M. Lawrence & Richard G. Rogers & Anna Zajacova & Tim Wadsworth, 2019. "Marital Happiness, Marital Status, Health, and Longevity," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(5), pages 1539-1561, June.
    7. Liu, Hui & Zhang, Zhenmei & Zhang, Yan, 2021. "A national longitudinal study of marital quality and cognitive decline among older men and women," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).

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