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Marital transitions and mental health: Are there gender differences in the short-term effects of marital status change?

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  • Strohschein, Lisa
  • McDonough, Peggy
  • Monette, Georges
  • Shao, Qing

Abstract

Although there has been evidence to suggest that women exhibit more vulnerability to psychological distress than men when they lose a spouse or remarry, knowledge about the process by which men and women adjust to marital change remains fragmentary. This is due in part to the length of time between observations in longitudinal studies on marital change, with the result that mental health status is typically assessed long after a marital status transition has occurred. The purpose of the current study is to test for gender differences in the short-term mental health effects of a marital status transition using three waves of data collected at two year intervals in a Canadian population health survey (N=11,155). Growth curve analyses confirm the mental health advantage of marriage and reveal that the short-term effects of moving into and out of marriage on psychological distress are similar for men and women. We discuss the implications of these findings for resolving competing explanations regarding psychological adjustment to marital change.

Suggested Citation

  • Strohschein, Lisa & McDonough, Peggy & Monette, Georges & Shao, Qing, 2005. "Marital transitions and mental health: Are there gender differences in the short-term effects of marital status change?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(11), pages 2293-2303, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:61:y:2005:i:11:p:2293-2303
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    Cited by:

    1. Shuai Chen & Jan C. van Ours, 2022. "Mental health effects of same‐sex marriage legalization," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(1), pages 42-56, January.
    2. Nicole Hiekel & Mine Kühn, 2021. "Mental health before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: the role of partnership and parenthood status in growing disparities between types of families," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2021-013, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    3. Emma Björkenstam & Johan Hallqvist & Christina Dalman & Rickard Ljung, 2013. "Risk of new psychiatric episodes in the year following divorce in midlife: Cause or selection? A nationwide register-based study of 703,960 individuals," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 59(8), pages 801-804, December.
    4. Metsä-Simola, Niina & Martikainen, Pekka, 2013. "Divorce and changes in the prevalence of psychotropic medication use: A register-based longitudinal study among middle-aged Finns," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 71-80.
    5. Shuai Chen & Jan C. Ours, 2018. "Subjective Well-being and Partnership Dynamics: Are Same-Sex Relationships Different?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(6), pages 2299-2320, December.
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    7. Thomas Leopold, 2018. "Gender Differences in the Consequences of Divorce: A Study of Multiple Outcomes," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(3), pages 769-797, June.
    8. Rebecca E Lacey & Meena Kumari & Amanda Sacker & Mai Stafford & Diana Kuh & Anne McMunn, 2016. "Work-Family Life Courses and Metabolic Markers in the MRC National Survey of Health and Development," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(8), pages 1-13, August.
    9. Anne-Lise Biotteau & Carole Bonnet & Emmanuelle Cambois, 2019. "Risk of Major Depressive Episodes After Separation: The Gender-Specific Contribution of the Income and Support Lost Through Union Dissolution," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 35(3), pages 519-542, July.
    10. Iris Meulman & Bette Loef & Niek Stadhouders & Tron Anders Moger & Albert Wong & Johan J. Polder & Ellen Uiters, 2023. "Estimating healthcare expenditures after becoming divorced or widowed using propensity score matching," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 24(7), pages 1047-1060, September.
    11. Sara Zella, 2017. "Marital Status Transitions and Self-Reported Health among Canadians: A Life Course Perspective," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 12(2), pages 303-325, June.
    12. Bentley, Rebecca & Baker, Emma & Aitken, Zoe, 2019. "The ‘double precarity’ of employment insecurity and unaffordable housing and its impact on mental health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 225(C), pages 9-16.
    13. Thomas Leopold, 2016. "Gender Differences in the Consequences of Divorce: A Multiple-Outcome Comparison of Former Spouses," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 841, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    14. Wilson, Sven E., 2012. "Marriage, gender and obesity in later life," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 10(4), pages 431-453.
    15. Ambugo, Eliva A., 2014. "Cross-country variation in the sociodemographic factors associated with major depressive episode in Norway, the United Kingdom, Ghana, and Kenya," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 154-160.
    16. Tyler W. Myroniuk & Hans-Peter Kohler & Iliana Kohler, 2021. "Marital dissolutions and changes in mental health: Evidence from rural Malawi," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 44(41), pages 993-1022.
    17. Grzegorz Wójcik & Katarzyna Zawisza & Katarzyna Jabłońska & Tomasz Grodzicki & Beata Tobiasz-Adamczyk, 2021. "Transition out of Marriage and its Effects on Health and Health–Related Quality of Life among Females and Males. COURAGE and COURAGE-POLFUS–Population Based Follow-Up Study in Poland," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 16(1), pages 13-49, February.
    18. Helena Tunstall & Niamh K Shortt & Jamie R Pearce & Richard J Mitchell, 2015. "Difficult Life Events, Selective Migration and Spatial Inequalities in Mental Health in the UK," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(5), pages 1-13, May.
    19. Carla Comacchio & Giulia Antolini & Mirella Ruggeri & Marco Colizzi, 2022. "Gender-Oriented Mental Health Prevention: A Reappraisal," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-21, January.
    20. Tosi, Marco & van den Broek, Thijs, 2020. "Gray divorce and mental health in the United Kingdom," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 256(C).
    21. Chen, Shuai, 2019. "Marriage, minorities, and mass movements," Other publications TiSEM 9cb1b11d-12e6-46a8-adca-4, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    22. Celia Lo & Tyrone Cheng & Gaynell Simpson, 2016. "Marital status and work-related health limitation: a longitudinal study of young adult and middle-aged Americans," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 61(1), pages 91-100, January.
    23. Thomas Leopold & Matthijs Kalmijn, 2016. "Is Divorce More Painful When Couples Have Children? Evidence From Long-Term Panel Data on Multiple Domains of Well-being," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(6), pages 1717-1742, December.

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