Deviations From Desired Age at Marriage: Mental Health Differences Across Marital Status

Although several factors condition mental health differences between married and nevermarried adults, given recent increases in marriage delay and permanent singlehood, one modifying factor - deviation from desired age at marriage - has yet to be examined. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (N - 7, 277), the author tested whether deviation from desired age at marriage shapes the mental health of married and never-married adults as well as mental health differences between them. The results showed that most respondents failed to meet their initial preference for age at marriage. Marrying both earlier and later than desired (compared to on time) resulted in poorer mental health and fewer benefits compared to never marrying. For the never-married, mental health was best, and differences compared to the married were nonsignificant, for those nearest their desired age at marriage. As timing deviations increased, however, a mental health deficit among the never-married emerged.Key Words: life events/transitions, marriage, mental health, National Longitudinal Study of Youth.Over the last 40 years, the average age at first marriage in the United States has risen sharply, and for some groups - in particular, African Americans and the economically disadvantaged - the likelihood of ever marrying has decreased dramatically (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). These demographic shifts are important, because marriage results in significantly better mental health, on average, compared to never marrying (for a review, see K. Williams, Freeh, & Carlson, 2010). This average statistical association of marital status with mental health nevertheless masks significant heterogeneity in mental health outcomes. Recent work has identified several factors that condition this association, but with significant increases in marriage delay over recent decades, one important factor has yet to be considered: deviation from desired age at marriage.One's desires for the timing of life course transitions, like marriage, are linked to social and cultural age norms (East, 1998; Settersten & Hagestad, 1996), and deviating from preferred life course pathways, aside from violating these norms, can also be stressors that in turn negatively affect mental health (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984; Neugarten, 1979). This implies that whether one's marital status improves wellbeing or undermines it likely depends on the ability to meet one's preference for age at marriage. Given significant changes in the timing and occurrence of marriage, an examination of the effect of deviations from desired marriage timing on mental health, for both married and nevermarried individuals, is important, especially if these shifts are associated with a high prevalence of deviation from preferred age at marriage.BACKGROUNDMarital Status and Mental HealthIt has been well noted in the literature that marriage benefits mental health. Indeed, marriage provides people with several psychosocial and economic resources that are associated with high levels of well-being. First, the marital role is a potential source of meaning and purpose (Marks, 1996) that provides a sense of mattering to others (Schieman & Taylor, 2001; Taylor & Turner, 2001). Marriage also provides higher levels of social integration and support compared to being unmarried. Last, married individuals benefit from economies of scale and the sharing of economic resources, whereas many unmarried individuals do not (Waite, 1995). Although researchers often have found that married adults have better mental health than unmarried adults (for a review, see K. Williams et al., 2010), examinations of mental health differences between married and nevermarried individuals specifically have yielded mixed results: A handful of studies have found no mental health differences between these groups (Horwitz & White, 1991; D. R. Williams, Takeuchi, & Adair, 1992). …