Marital Status and Mental Health Revisited: Examining the Importance of Risk Factors and Resources

Marital Status and Mental Health Revisited: Examining the Importance of Risk Factors and Resources* Much of the research on the relationship between marital status and mental health has only looked at married versus "nonmarried" groups. This research examines differences among marital groups and examines how distress is distributed among these groups. Although friendlrelative support, self-esteem, and mastery are important for each marital group, patterns for other resources are not as consistent. Even when controlling for psychosocial resources, married and never married women and nonwhites have higher distress levels. Researchers report that married people have better mental and physical health than nonmarried people. Explanations for this finding range from the importance of another in the household, to the social control and regulatory finctions provided in marriage, to the importance of a built in source of support (Umberson, 1987; Gove, Style, & Hughes, 1990). A problem with much of the research on marital status and health is that many researchers only look at married versus nonmarried groups. All single people are grouped into one "nonmarried" group. This process makes an assumption that this group is homogeneous. The first stage of this research examines differences in the life experiences, stressors, and resources of marital groups and concludes that they may be diverse enough, in fact, to warrant maintaining their separateness in the research process. The second stage of this research illustrates how psychological distress is socially distributed within and across four marital status groups: married, separated/divorced, widowed, and never married. This part of the research demonstrates the importance of maintaining distinctions among marital groups, as the pathways to distress appear to vary among these groups. The Importance of Marital Status Marital status is often included as a control variable in mental health studies with two categories (married and nonmarried). The never married, separated, divorced, and widowed are grouped into one category (e.g., "singles or nonmarried"). This classification system makes implicit assumptions about the nature of "singlehood." Regardless of "single" status, this approach would suggest that the life experiences of never married, separated, divorced, and widowed people would be very similar. This perspective leads to a loss of precision in outcome assessment and may potentially lead to incorrect and/or inconclusive results with regards to the importance of marital status. Marital states are specific forms of social relationships which reflect social locations and are associated with the types of resources, supportive functions, and interactions which are available for individuals. People in different marital status groups differ both in the types of strains to which they are exposed and also in the extent to which the same strains affect their well-being. Social resources may be more commonly available to the married than to the nonmarried, and these resources help manage the psychological distress that can result from life problems (Turner & Lloyd, 1998). Being married involves being in a legal, formalized relationship. In this sense, individuals are embedded in a network (i.e., a spouse, in-laws, possibly children, etc.). The potential exists for social support from these generally strong ties. These network members provide a variety of functions which influence an individual's sense of self and his or her resulting well-being. They may aid in the detection of problems, prohibit some types of behaviors (Umberson, 1987), and find sources of care and assistance when problems arise. Spouses and other family members serve as sources of beliefs and values, validators of identity, and they may remind individuals of their worth and achievements. Having a stable and clear self-image is a major source of fortitude when struggling with life's stresses. …