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Multiple Marital Dissolutions and Midlife Health

Tumin, Dmitry

Abstract Details

2011, Master of Arts, Ohio State University, Sociology.
Marriage is strongly associated with better health. In part, this is due to the harmful effects of marital dissolutions. As remarriage becomes more common, so do multiple marital exits. It is unclear if more marital dissolutions lead to worse health. In this paper, I test whether multiple marital dissolutions – divorces and separations – exert a cumulative effect on health at midlife. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth ‘79, I find that depression and low self-rated health at midlife are less prevalent among the continuously married than among those who have ever experienced a marital dissolution. However, I find no evidence of a cumulative effect on health. Higher-order marital dissolutions appear to have less of an effect on health than first dissolutions. Stress and resource theories suggest people may adapt to a first dissolution in ways that reduce health harm from future dissolutions.
Zhenchao Qian, PhD (Committee Chair)
Elizabeth Menaghan, PhD (Committee Member)
Kristi Williams, PhD (Committee Member)
44 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Tumin, D. (2011). Multiple Marital Dissolutions and Midlife Health [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1296507240

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Tumin, Dmitry. Multiple Marital Dissolutions and Midlife Health. 2011. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1296507240.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Tumin, Dmitry. "Multiple Marital Dissolutions and Midlife Health." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1296507240

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)