IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v165y2016icp119-127.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Marital quality, marital dissolution, and mortality risk during the later life course

Author

Listed:
  • Bulanda, Jennifer Roebuck
  • Brown, J. Scott
  • Yamashita, Takashi

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between later-life marital quality, marital dissolution, and mortality using discrete-time event history models with data from nine waves (1992–2008) of the Health and Retirement Study (n = 7388). Results show marital status is more important for men's mortality risk than women's, whereas marital quality is more important for women's survival than men's. Being widowed or divorced more than two years raises mortality risk for men, but later-life marital dissolution is not significantly associated with women's mortality risk, regardless of the type of dissolution or length of time since it occurred. Low-quality marital interaction is negatively related to women's odds of death, but none of the marital quality measures are significantly associated with mortality for men. Marital satisfaction moderates the relationship between widowhood and mortality for women, but the relationship between marital dissolution and mortality is similar for men regardless of marital quality prior to divorce/widowhood. Results suggest the importance of accounting for both marital status and marital quality when examining older individuals' mortality risk.

Suggested Citation

  • Bulanda, Jennifer Roebuck & Brown, J. Scott & Yamashita, Takashi, 2016. "Marital quality, marital dissolution, and mortality risk during the later life course," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 119-127.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:165:y:2016:i:c:p:119-127
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.07.025
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953616303860
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.07.025?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andy Sharma, 2015. "Divorce/Separation in Later-Life: A Fixed Effects Analysis of Economic Well-Being by Gender," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 36(2), pages 299-306, June.
    2. Deborah Carr & James S. House & Ronald C. Kessler & Randolph M. Nesse & John Sonnega & Camille Wortman, 2000. "Marital Quality and Psychological Adjustment to Widowhood Among Older Adults," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 55(4), pages 197-207.
    3. Susan L. Brown & I-Fen Lin, 2012. "The Gray Divorce Revolution: Rising Divorce Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults, 1990-2010," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 67(6), pages 731-741.
    4. Hibbard, Judith H. & Pope, Clyde R., 1993. "The quality of social roles as predictors of morbidity and mortality," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 217-225, February.
    5. Birditt, Kira & Antonucci, Toni C., 2008. "Life sustaining irritations? Relationship quality and mortality in the context of chronic illness," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(8), pages 1291-1299, October.
    6. Heejeong Choi & Jeremy B. Yorgason & David R. Johnson, 2016. "Marital Quality and Health in Middle and Later Adulthood: Dyadic Associations," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 71(1), pages 154-164.
    7. Paul D. Allison, 1999. "Comparing Logit and Probit Coefficients Across Groups," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 28(2), pages 186-208, November.
    8. Manzoli, Lamberto & Villari, Paolo & M Pirone, Giovanni & Boccia, Antonio, 2007. "Marital status and mortality in the elderly: A systematic review and meta-analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 77-94, January.
    9. Jamila Bookwala & Melissa M. Franks, 2005. "Moderating Role of Marital Quality in Older Adults' Depressed Affect: Beyond the Main-Effects Model," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 60(6), pages 338-341.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Miika Mäki & Anna Erika Hägglund & Anna Rotkirch & Sangita Kulathinal & Mikko Myrskylä, 2022. "Stable marital histories predict happiness and health across educational groups," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2022-035, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    2. Sarah R. Brauner-Otto & William G. Axinn & Dirgha J. Ghimire, 2020. "Parents’ Marital Quality and Children’s Transition to Adulthood," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(1), pages 195-220, February.
    3. Haan, Peter & Hammerschmid, Anna & Schmieder, Julia, 2019. "Mortality in midlife for subgroups in Germany," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 14.
    4. Elizabeth M. Lawrence & Richard G. Rogers & Anna Zajacova & Tim Wadsworth, 2019. "Marital Happiness, Marital Status, Health, and Longevity," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(5), pages 1539-1561, June.
    5. Liu, Hui & Zhang, Zhenmei & Zhang, Yan, 2021. "A national longitudinal study of marital quality and cognitive decline among older men and women," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    6. Tosi, Marco & van den Broek, Thijs, 2020. "Gray divorce and mental health in the United Kingdom," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 256(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Shanshan Li & Laura D Kubzansky & Tyler J VanderWeele, 2018. "Religious service attendance, divorce, and remarriage among U.S. nurses in mid and late life," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(12), pages 1-17, December.
    2. Michael Rendall & Margaret Weden & Melissa Favreault & Hilary Waldron, 2011. "The Protective Effect of Marriage for Survival: A Review and Update," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 48(2), pages 481-506, May.
    3. Lovejoy, Kristin, 2012. "Mobility Fulfillment Among Low-car Households: Implications for Reducing Auto Dependence in the United States," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt4v44b5qn, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    4. Jon Anson, 2010. "Beyond Material Explanations: Family Solidarity and Mortality, a Small Area‐level Analysis," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 36(1), pages 27-45, March.
    5. Kai Hong & Peter A. Savelyev & Kegon T. K. Tan, 2020. "Understanding the Mechanisms Linking College Education with Longevity," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 14(3), pages 371-400.
    6. Stroebe, Margaret Susan & Folkman, Susan & Hansson, Robert O. & Schut, Henk, 2006. "The prediction of bereavement outcome: Development of an integrative risk factor framework," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(9), pages 2440-2451, November.
    7. María Elena Martínez & Jonathan T Unkart & Li Tao & Candyce H Kroenke & Richard Schwab & Ian Komenaka & Scarlett Lin Gomez, 2017. "Prognostic significance of marital status in breast cancer survival: A population-based study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(5), pages 1-14, May.
    8. Haan, Peter & Hammerschmid, Anna & Schmieder, Julia, 2019. "Mortality in midlife for subgroups in Germany," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 14.
    9. Marcel Fischer & Natalia Khorunzhina, 2019. "Housing Decision With Divorce Risk," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 60(3), pages 1263-1290, August.
    10. Patricia A Thomas & Debra Umberson, 2018. "Do Older Parents’ Relationships With Their Adult Children Affect Cognitive Limitations, and Does This Differ for Mothers and Fathers?," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 73(6), pages 1133-1142.
    11. Damien Rousselière, 2019. "A Flexible Approach to Age Dependence in Organizational Mortality: Comparing the Life Duration for Cooperative and Non-Cooperative Enterprises Using a Bayesian Generalized Additive Discrete Time Survi," Journal of Quantitative Economics, Springer;The Indian Econometric Society (TIES), vol. 17(4), pages 829-855, December.
    12. Elena Bastianelli & Daniele Vignoli, 2021. "Instability of Employment Careers and Union Dissolution. A Complex Micro-level Relation," Econometrics Working Papers Archive 2021_04, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Statistica, Informatica, Applicazioni "G. Parenti".
    13. Inés Berniell & Dolores de la Mata & Matilde Pinto Machado, 2020. "The Impact of a Permanent Income Shock on the Situation of Women in the Household: The Case of a Pension Reform in Argentina," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 68(4), pages 1295-1343.
    14. Eijffinger, Sylvester & Mahieu, Ronald & Raes, Louis, 2018. "Inferring hawks and doves from voting records," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 107-120.
    15. Kate Choi & Nancy Reichman, 2019. "The health of biracial children in two-parent families in the United States," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 41(8), pages 197-230.
    16. Pilar Zueras & Roberta Rutigliano & Sergi Trias-Llimós, 0. "Marital status, living arrangements, and mortality in middle and older age in Europe," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 0, pages 1-10.
    17. Hippolyte d'Albis & Karina Doorley & Elena Stancanelli, 2021. "Older mothers' employment and marriage stability when the nest is empty," PSE Working Papers halshs-03203063, HAL.
    18. Claire E. Altman & Jennifer Van Hook & Jonathan Gonzalez, 2017. "Becoming Overweight without Gaining a Pound: Weight Evaluations and the Social Integration of Mexicans in the United States," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(1), pages 3-36, March.
    19. Janice Compton & Robert A Pollak, 2021. "The life expectancy of older couples and surviving spouses," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(5), pages 1-13, May.
    20. Gesa Czwikla & Filip Boen & Derek G. Cook & Johan de Jong & Tess Harris & Lisa K. Hilz & Steve Iliffe & Richard Morris & Saskia Muellmann & Denise A. Peels & Claudia R. Pischke & Benjamin Schüz & Mart, 2019. "Equity-Specific Effects of Interventions to Promote Physical Activity among Middle-Aged and Older Adults: Development of a Collaborative Equity-Specific Re-Analysis Strategy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-17, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:165:y:2016:i:c:p:119-127. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.