Does Marriage Really Matter to Health? Intra- and Inter-Country Evidence from China, Japan, Taiwan, and the Republic of Korea

Chung, Woojin; Kim, Roeul

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0104868

Cited by 18 publications

(17 citation statements)

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“…In both sexes, the odds of reporting happiness were significantly lower among the currently unmarried participants compared to those who are married. Literature on health and happiness from a marital perspective suggests that currently married individuals report better health status and happiness and share a higher mortality risk than their unmarried counterparts (Robards et al 2012;Ngamaba and Soni 2018;Bookwala 2011;Chung and Kim 2014). However, the findings may be confounded by the fact that we had no information regarding the quality of marriage.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Subjective Happiness, Health and Quality of Life and Their Sociocultural Correlates among Younger Population in Malawi

2019

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Public health research and policy in sub-Saharan Africa are generally disease-oriented, with the focus being largely confined within the biological determinants of health. So far, little attention has been given to developing a more health-oriented approach by emphasising the psychosocial dimensions of health, especially among the younger population. To this regard, we conducted the present study to assess the prevalence and sociocultural correlates of perceived happiness, health, and life satisfaction among the adolescent and young (15–24 years) population in Malawi. We analysed cross-sectional data on 12,610 men and women based on a Malawi multiple indicator cluster survey conducted in 2013–2014. Data were analysed using descriptive and multivariable regression methods. According to the findings, more than 80% of the men and women reported being satisfied about happiness, health, and life. Multivariate analysis showed an inverse relationship between being currently or formerly married and perceived happiness. Ethnic disparities in perceived health and happiness were more pronounced in men, whereas that of life satisfaction was more pronounced in women. Living in households of the highest wealth quintile was positively associated with health and life satisfaction, but not with happiness. These findings highlight the need for prioritising the psychosocial needs of the adolescent and youth populations in designing health and social policy in Malawi. The findings need to be interpreted in light of the factors specific to the sociocultural environment in Malawi.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Subjective Happiness, Health and Quality of Life and Their Sociocultural Correlates among Younger Population in Malawi

2019

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“…Chung and Kim reported that satisfaction in marriage was associated with fine SRH in Japan, independent of sex, age, educational attainment, employment, self-rated social class, and religion. 15 …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…5 Lower educational attainment, 6 , 7 being unmarried, 7 , 8 not working, 9 , 10 and having a low income 6 , 10 – 13 have been associated with a deteriorated SRH in Japan; however, previous findings are inconsistent. 9 , 14 , 15 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationships among Socioeconomic Factors and Self-rated Health in Japanese Adults: NIPPON DATA2010

Ota

Yatsuya

Nishi

et al. 2018

Journal of Epidemiology

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BackgroundThe distributions of socioeconomic status (SES) factors have been changing in Japan. We examined the relationships among SES and self-rated health (SRH) in Japanese adults.MethodsWe analyzed 1,178 men and 1,555 women. We showed the distribution of SRH by sex and age and examined cross-sectional relationships among educational attainment, marital/living statuses, working status, household income and expenditure, and fine SRH (defined as excellent, very good, or good). We adjusted for age, subjective symptoms, visiting doctors, monthly equivalent household expenditure (EHE), and living in their own house.ResultsThe age-standardized prevalence of fine SRH was 79% and 73% among men and women, respectively. Among men, graduating from high school (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.53; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.07–2.19, relative to graduating from elementary or junior high school) and university or junior college (aOR 1.74; 95% CI, 1.15–2.62) was associated with fine SRH. Among women, graduating from university or junior college was associated with fine SRH (aOR 1.65; 95% CI, 1.12–2.46). Neither marital/living status nor working status was associated with SRH after adjustments for age in either sex. Among women, high EHE and income were associated with fine SRH (the highest expenditure group: aOR 1.80; 95% CI, 1.22–2.65; the highest income group: aOR 2.15; 95% CI, 1.34–3.46, relative to the corresponding lowest group). These simple relationships were not observed for men.ConclusionsHigh educational attainment was associated with fine SRH. Relationships among household income, EHE, and fine SRH differed by sex.

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“…Because these countries have completely different socio-cultural characteristics from Western countries, our results regarding the MPE might differ from previous studies. Recent research on the MPE in East Asia by Chung and Kim shows a strong and positive association between marriage satisfaction and self-rated health status (SRH) in China, Taiwan, and Korea, but this is not the case for Japan [ 14 ]. Specifically, married people with a higher level of marriage satisfaction are more likely to claim that their SRH is “excellent” or “very good” compared with unmarried people.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does Marriage Make Us Healthier? Inter-Country Comparative Evidence from China, Japan, and Korea

Noguchi

2016

PLoS ONE

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ObjectivesThis study focuses on East Asian countries and investigates the difference in the marriage premium on the health-marriage protection effect (MPE) between younger and older generations and the intra-couple education concordance effect (ECE) on the health of married individuals. This study used inter-country comparative data from China, Japan, and Korea.MethodsThis study focused on individuals (n = 7,938) in China, Japan, and Korea who were sampled from the 2010 East Asian Social Survey. To investigate MPE and ECE, four health indicators were utilized: a physical and mental components summary (PCS and MCS), self-rated health status (Dself), and happiness level (Dhappy). Ordinary least squares regression was conducted by country- and gender-specific subsamples.ResultsWe found that the MPE on PCS, MCS, and Dself was more significant for the older generation than for the younger generation in both China and Japan, whereas the results were inconclusive in Korea. With regard to the ECE on happiness (Dhappy), for both men and women, couples tend to be happier when both the husband and the wife are well educated (“higher balanced marriage”) compared to couples with a lower level of educational achievement (“lower balanced marriage”). Significant benefits from a “higher balanced marriage” on MCS and Dself were observed for women only. In contrast, no statistically significant differences in health status were observed between “higher balanced marriage” couples and couples with different levels of educational achievements (“upward marriage” or “downward marriage”).ConclusionsThis study found that (1) the MPE was more significant for the older generation, and (2) the health gap, particularly the happiness gap, between higher- and lower-balanced married couples was significant. The inter-country comparative findings are useful to explain how the role of marriage (and therefore of family) on health has been diluted due to the progress of industrialization and modernization.

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Does Marriage Really Matter to Health? Intra- and Inter-Country Evidence from China, Japan, Taiwan, and the Republic of Korea

Cited by 18 publications

References 53 publications

Subjective Happiness, Health and Quality of Life and Their Sociocultural Correlates among Younger Population in Malawi

Subjective Happiness, Health and Quality of Life and Their Sociocultural Correlates among Younger Population in Malawi

Relationships among Socioeconomic Factors and Self-rated Health in Japanese Adults: NIPPON DATA2010

Does Marriage Make Us Healthier? Inter-Country Comparative Evidence from China, Japan, and Korea

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