title: Marital Status, Relationship Distress, and Self-rated Health: What Role for "Sleep Problems"?
abstract: This paper analyzes data from a nationally representative survey of adults in the United Kingdom (Understanding Society, N = 37,253) to explore the marital status/health nexus (using categories that include a measure of relationship distress) and to assess the role that sleep problems play as a potential mediator. Findings indicate how it is not just the "form" marital status takes but also the absence or presence of relationship distress that is essential to self-rated health. We demonstrate two further findings that: (1) sleep problems act as a mediator of the link between marital status/relationship distress and self-rated health, most notably for those in cohabiting relationships with medium/high distress or who have a history of relationship loss, and (2) the mediating role of sleep problems differs for divorced men and women.
authors.affiliation: University of Surrey, Surrey, UK r.meadows@surrey.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Meadows
authors.affiliation: University of Surrey, Surrey, UK.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arber
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004243:Divorce / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status; D008393:Marriage / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D006113:United Kingdom
keywords: health; marital status; mediation; relationship distress; sleep problems