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Competing explanations for associations between marital status and health

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  • Wyke, Sally
  • Ford, Graeme

Abstract

This paper is based on baseline data form a survey of 1042 fifty-five year olds living in the Central Clydeside Conurbation, who constitute the eldest cohort of the 'West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study'--a longitudinal study of health and everyday life. The relationship between marital status and a number of measures of health and illness is explored. The paper examines which of four 'social causation' explanations--that married people have better health because they have more material resources, less stress, indulge in less risky health behaviour and have more social support--can actually account for the observed patterning. It finds that more risky health behaviour (measured by smoking and drinking), and 'objective' levels of social support, cannot account for very much of the effect of marital status on health measures; but that material resources, stress and perceived quality of social support could do so. However, elucidation of the direction of the relationships between these explanations and health measures, and indeed of the effect of health 'selection' into and out of marriage must await future sweeps of this longitudinal study.

Suggested Citation

  • Wyke, Sally & Ford, Graeme, 1992. "Competing explanations for associations between marital status and health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 523-532, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:34:y:1992:i:5:p:523-532
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    Cited by:

    1. Yannakoulia, Mary & Panagiotakos, Demosthenes & Pitsavos, Christos & Skoumas, Yannis & Stafanadis, Christodoulos, 2008. "Eating patterns may mediate the association between marital status, body mass index, and blood cholesterol levels in apparently healthy men and women from the ATTICA study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(11), pages 2230-2239, June.
    2. Camila Maciel de Oliveira & Luciane Viater Tureck & Danilo Alvares & Chunyu Liu & Andrea Roseli Vançan Russo Horimoto & Mercedes Balcells & Rafael de Oliveira Alvim & José Eduardo Krieger & Alexandre , 2020. "Relationship between marital status and incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus in a Brazilian rural population: The Baependi Heart Study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(8), pages 1-10, August.
    3. Lori Curtis & Shelley Phipps, 2001. "Social Transfers and the Health Status and Health-Care Utilization of Mothers in Norway and Canada," LIS Working papers 313, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    4. Borau, Sylvie & Couprie, Hélène & Hopfensitz, Astrid, 2022. "The prosociality of married people: Evidence from a large multinational sample," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    5. Wilson, Chris M. & Oswald, Andrew J., 2005. "How Does Marriage Affect Physical and Psychological Health? A Survey of the Longitudinal Evidence," Economic Research Papers 269622, University of Warwick - Department of Economics.
    6. Uwe Helmert & Steven Shea, 1998. "Family status and self-reported health in West Germany," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 43(3), pages 124-132, May.
    7. Jacqueline Ramke & Fatima Kyari & Nyawira Mwangi & MMPN Piyasena & GVS Murthy & Clare E Gilbert, 2019. "Cataract Services are Leaving Widows Behind: Examples from National Cross-Sectional Surveys in Nigeria and Sri Lanka," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-11, October.
    8. Jaffe, Dena H. & Eisenbach, Zvi & Neumark, Yehuda D. & Manor, Orly, 2006. "Effects of husbands' and wives' education on each other's mortality," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(8), pages 2014-2023, April.
    9. Donrovich, Robyn & Drefahl, Sven & Koupil, Ilona, 2014. "Early life conditions, partnership histories, and mortality risk for Swedish men and women born 1915–1929," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 60-67.
    10. Puthiery Va & Wan-Shui Yang & Sarah Nechuta & Wong-Ho Chow & Hui Cai & Gong Yang & Shan Gao & Yu-Tang Gao & Wei Zheng & Xiao-Ou Shu & Yong-Bing Xiang, 2011. "Marital Status and Mortality among Middle Age and Elderly Men and Women in Urban Shanghai," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(11), pages 1-10, November.
    11. Fiorillo, Damiano & Lubrano Lavadera, Giuseppe & Nappo, Nunzia, 2016. "Social participation and self-rated psychological health," MPRA Paper 72879, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Lori J. Curtis, 2001. "Lone Motherhood and Health Status," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 27(3), pages 335-356, September.
    13. Fritzell, Sara & Ringbäck Weitoft, Gunilla & Fritzell, Johan & Burström, Bo, 2007. "From macro to micro: The health of Swedish lone mothers during changing economic and social circumstances," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(12), pages 2474-2488, December.
    14. Riina Peltonen & Jessica Y. Ho & Irma T. Elo & Pekka Martikainen, 2017. "Contribution of smoking-attributable mortality to life-expectancy differences by marital status among Finnish men and women, 1971-2010," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 36(8), pages 255-280.
    15. Reto Schumacher & Sarah Vilpert, 2011. "Gender differences in social mortality differentials in Switzerland (1990-2005)," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 25(8), pages 285-310.
    16. Giordano, Giuseppe Nicola & Lindström, Martin, 2011. "Social capital and change in psychological health over time," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(8), pages 1219-1227, April.

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