title: Marital quality, marital dissolution, and mortality risk during the later life course.
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.
authors: Miami University, Department of Sociology & Gerontology, 375 Upham Hall, Oxford, OH 45056, USA. Electronic address: bulandjr@miamioh.edu.
authors: Jennifer Roebuck
authors: JR
authors: Bulanda
authors: Miami University, Department of Sociology & Gerontology, 375 Upham Hall, Oxford, OH 45056, USA. Electronic address: sbrow@miamioh.edu.
authors: J Scott
authors: JS
authors: Brown
authors: University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Department of Sociology, Box 455033, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV 89154-5033, USA. Electronic address: takashi.yamashita@unlv.edu.
authors: Takashi
authors: T
authors: Yamashita
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008393:Marriage / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D009026:Mortality; D012179:Retirement / Q000523:psychology; D012737:Sex Factors
keywords: Divorce; Gender; Marital quality; Marriage; Mortality; Widowhood