Marital Biography and Health at Mid-Life

Abstract

This article develops a series of hypotheses about the long-term effects of one’s history of marriage, divorce, and widowhood on health, and it tests those hypotheses using data from the Health and Retirement Study. We examine four dimensions of health at mid-life: chronic conditions, mobility limitations, self-rated health, and depressive symptoms. We find that the experience of marital disruption damages health, with the effects still evident years later; among the currently married, those who have ever been divorced show worse health on all dimensions. Both the divorced and widowed who do not remarry show worse health than the currently married on all dimensions. Dimensions of health that seem to develop slowly, such as chronic conditions and mobility limitations, show strong effects of past marital disruption, whereas others, such as depressive symptoms, seem more sensitive to current marital status. Those who spent more years divorced or widowed show more chronic conditions and mobility limitations.

Subjective financial well-being, income and health inequalities in mid and later life in Britain

“…Although, past research suggests that widowhood may be a significant predictor of poor health (Hughes & Waite, 2009;Manzoli et al, 2007); this was not found in our study. Despite widows being more likely to experience low income than their married counterparts (Arber, 2004), this may not detrimentally affect their health, if they view their income as adequate for their needs.…”

Gender Differences in the Relationship Between Household Position and Health in Twelve European Countries: Are They Associated with the Value Climate?

“…It also depends on the spread of divorce and the propensity to enter a consensual union or marriage thereafter. Whereas living with a partner enhances each partners' health status, the termination of a union typically has a short and medium term negative effect on health, due to the disappearance of the protecting factors and the erosion of mental health associated with the process of the worsening of a couple's relationship and the subsequent separation (Waldron et al 1997;Hughes and Waite 2009). In new partnerships, the positive health levels of the first union are often not regained (Hughes and Waite 2002;Martikainen et al 2005).…”

Subjective Well-Being and Partnership Dynamics: Are Same-Sex Relationships Different?

“…Likewise, the well-being loss of a partnership disruption will materialize gradually. The lack of social support and social control from a protective partner may render the divorcees to develop and engage in a less healthy lifestyle and well-being risky behaviors, which will exacerbate their well-being as time passes (Hughes and Waite, 2009). Besides, the loss of the gradually accrued investment in the previous partnership makes it difficult to recover for the divorcees' well-being (Stanley et al, 2006).…”