Someone to live for: effects of partner and dependent children on preventable death in a population wide sample from Northern Ireland

Abstract

How to allocate resources between somatic maintenance and reproduction in a manner that maximizes inclusive fitness is a fundamental challenge for all organisms. Life history theory predicts that effort put into somatic maintenance (health) should vary with sex, mating and parenting status because men and women have different costs of reproduction, and because life transitions such as family formation alter the fitness payoffs from investing in current versus future reproduction. However, few tests of how such life history parameters influence behaviours closely linked to survival exist. Here we examine whether specific forms of preventable death (accidents/suicides, alcohol-related causes, and other preventable diseases) are predicted by marital status and dependent offspring in a modern developed context; that of Northern Ireland. We predict that men, non-partnered individuals and individuals who do not have dependent offspring will be at higher risk of preventable death. Running survival analyses on the entire adult population (aged 16–59, n = 927,134) controlling for socioeconomic position (SEP) and other potential confounds, we find that being single (compared to cohabiting/married) increases risk of accidental/suicide death for men (but not for women), whereas having dependent children is associated with lower risk of preventable mortality for women but less so for men. We also find that the protective effect of partners is larger for men with low SEP than for high SEP men. Findings support life history predictions and suggest that individuals respond to variation in fitness costs linked to their mating and parenting status.

Sociodemographic Variables Most Associated with Suicidal Behaviour and Suicide Methods in Europe and America. A Systematic Review

“…Therefore, marriage seems to be a protective factor, with a risk of suicide 3.3 and 18.32 times higher among people who are widowers or separated/divorced, respectively (e.g., Fung & Chan, 2011;Gaxiola-Robles et al, 2009). These percentages decrease when people live in couple with children to take care of (Uggla & Mace, 2015). However, Rodríguez, López, and López (2012) found more suicide episodes among people who were married, even if it cannot be concluded that these outcomes were significant since the sample was distorted because of having high rates of married people.…”

“…The suicide related to the marital status can be associated with age: although different studies show different rates, most of them are common in people of older age (e.g., Beghi, Rosenbaum, Cerri, & Cornaggia, 2013; Coope et al, 2014). In this group of people is more common to be a widower, and also other risk factors, such as chronical diseases (Fairweather-Schmidt, Anstey, Salim, & Rodgers, 2010), appear and they have a higher intentionality using methods which are more lethal (Ministerio de Sanidad, Política Social e Thomas and Gunnell (2010) 1861-2007 Age = ≥15 Thompson, Dewa, and Phare (2012) 2009 N = 1,817; Age = 18-80 Torresani, Toffol, Scocco, and Fanolla (2014) 2000-2009 N = 525; Age = 0 ≥ 85 Uggla and Mace (2015) 2001 N = 927,134; Age = 16-59 Vougiouklakis, Tsiligianni, and Boumba (2009) 1998-2004Age = 10-24 Note. Data in alphabetical order by author/s.…”

Effects of local extrinsic mortality rate, crime and sex ratio on preventable death in Northern Ireland

“…Higher intrasexual competition does not necessarily lead to higher levels of violence—males might compete non-violently—and which strategy an individual adopts should depend on other factors, such as prowess and resource access [ 37 ]. We have previously demonstrated that there is a large sex difference in accidental/suicide deaths (70% higher hazards), and higher preventable death among non-partnered men and men without dependent children in Northern Ireland [ 39 ]. Notably, we found that the effects of men’s mating and parenting status were larger for men with low SEP, implying context-dependency of male mating strategies [ 39 ].…”

“…We have previously demonstrated that there is a large sex difference in accidental/suicide deaths (70% higher hazards), and higher preventable death among non-partnered men and men without dependent children in Northern Ireland [ 39 ]. Notably, we found that the effects of men’s mating and parenting status were larger for men with low SEP, implying context-dependency of male mating strategies [ 39 ]. Here, we build on those findings and test whether a male-biased sex ratio is associated with higher preventable death among men (which would support the ‘more men more violent competition’ model [ 33 ]) or lower preventable death (which would support reformulated models).…”

“…We have previously used data from this population to test individual predictions regarding mating and parenting status on preventable death [ 39 ], and ecological effects on timing of first birth [ 40 ]. We found evidence that a higher EMR, crime and a female-biased sex ratio accelerate motherhood, and that higher EMR and crime rate accelerate fatherhood [ 40 ].…”