A large body of literature has established a clear link between marriage and health. Despite this wealth of research, surprisingly few studies have attempted to explore the exact mechanisms behind this marriage-health connection. Previous research has focused solely on changes in marital status while failing to consider factors like the quality of the marriage or the characteristics of the spouse. This paper utilizes longitudinal data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to isolate the effect of marriage on the health-risk behaviors of binge drinking and marijuana use, and then assess the impact of marital and spousal factors on this "marriage effect." The results also show that marital quality has a significant impact on health behaviors. Higher self-assessed measures of marital quality are generally associated with lower rates of both binge drinking and marijuana use. The effect of spousal characteristics seems less significant. These results should provide a deeper understanding of the mechanisms behind the effects of marriage on health and help policymakers determine the appropriate policy response as the norms surrounding marriage continue to shift and evolve.
The current collection of studies investigated the association between marriage and health for middle-aged couples, focusing on how external stress shapes adaptive marital processes, and how this stress proliferation process impacts individuals' mental and physical health. Study 1, using longitudinal couple data, explored how family financial stress and individuals' trait hostility influenced adaptive marital processes, resulting in husbands' and wives' depressive symptoms. The findings affirmed the longitudinal stress proliferation in marriage, whereby family financial stress increased couples' perceptions of spousal hostility leading to increases in depressive symptoms. In addition, while individuals' trait hostility influenced wives' perceptions of spouse's hostile behaviors, this personality did not intensify the effect of financial stress on hostile marital interactions. Beyond depressive symptoms, Study 2 investigated various mechanisms such as behavioral, psychological, and physiological stress-related processes linking couples' consistent hostile marital interactions to physical health outcomes. The research outcomes illustrated that sustained hostile marital interactions negatively impacted later physical health through behavioral, psychological, and physiological mechanisms. The findings also supported the stress-related dyadic processes in couples especially for psychological process, whereby husbands' and wives' perceived spousal hostility increased both their own and their partners' psychological distress. Furthermore, examining physical health within three different aspects, which were global health, physical illness, and physical impairment, the current study provided additional information regarding how each mechanism influenced physical health differently. Frequent health risk behaviors were strong predictors of a long-term risk of physical illness, and high levels of body mass index were closely related to higher physical impairment. In addition, psychological distress was detrimental in all three features of physical health, reinforcing a salient role of psychological distress in physical health. This comprehensive investigation including biopsychosocial stress-response mechanisms contributes to the growing literature on life stress, marital adaptation, and health consequences, by providing precise information on how marriages change, and how marital distress gets "under the skin" of married individuals.
Family caregiving affects millions of Americans every day, in all walks of life. At least 17.7 million individuals in the United States are caregivers of an older adult with a health or functional limitation. The nation's family caregivers provide the lion's share of long-term care for our older adult population. They are also central to older adults' access to and receipt of health care and community-based social services. Yet the need to recognize and support caregivers is among the least appreciated challenges facing the aging U.S. population. Families Caring for an Aging America examines the prevalence and nature of family caregiving of older adults and the available evidence on the effectiveness of programs, supports, and other interventions designed to support family caregivers. This report also assesses and recommends policies to address the needs of family caregivers and to minimize the barriers that they encounter in trying to meet the needs of older adults.
Substance use and substance use disorders (SUDs) have been documented in a number of cultures since the beginnings of recorded time and represent major societal concerns in the present day. The Oxford Handbook of Substance Use and Substance Use Disorders provides comprehensive reviews of key areas of inquiry into the fundamental nature of substance use and SUDs, their features, causes, consequences, course, treatment, and prevention. It is clear that understanding these various aspects of substance use and SUDs requires a multidisciplinary perspective that considers the pharmacology of drugs of abuse, genetic variation in these acute and chronic effects, and psychological processes in the context of the interpersonal and cultural contexts. Comprising two volumes, this Handbook also highlights a range of opportunities and challenges facing those interested in the basic understanding of the nature of these phenomena and novel approaches to assess, prevent, and treat these conditions with the goal of reducing the enormous burden these problems place on our global society. Chapters in Volume 1 cover the historical and cultural contexts of substance use and its consequences, its epidemiology and course, etiological processes from the perspective of neuropharmacology, genetics, personality, development, motivation, and the interpersonal and larger social environment. Chapters in Volume 2 cover major health and social consequences of substance involvement, psychiatric comorbidity, assessment, and interventions. Each chapter highlights key issues in the respective topic area and raises unanswered questions for future research. All chapters are authored by leading scholars in each topic. The level of coverage is sufficiently deep to be of value to both trainees and established scientists and clinicians interested in an evidenced-based approach.
Marriage has become an increasingly important topic in academic and policy research. A burgeoning literature suggests that marriage has a wide range of benefits, including improvements in individuals' economic well-being and mental and physical health, as well as the well-being of their children. Inspired, in part, by these potential benefits of marriage, several large-scale federal initiatives have been launched in recent years that aim to encourage and support marriage. This synthesis focuses on recent research evidence concerning one of these potential benefits of marriage -- the effects of marriage on health. In general, married people are healthier than those who are not married across a wide array of health outcomes.
Volume 4 considers the importance of health behavior research in practical settings. Particularly notable are treatments of the "narrative approach", the taxonomy of health behavior, and the organization of health behavior knowledge. Each volume features extensive supplementary and integrative material prepared by the editor, the detailed index to the entire four-volume set, and a glossary of health behavior terminology.
Noted for its fair and equal coverage of men and women, this book reviews the research and issues surrounding gender from multiple perspectives including psychology, sociology, anthropology, and public health, with an emphasis on the interaction between biological and social theories. The implications of social roles, status, and gender-related traits on relationships and health that are central to students' daily lives are emphasized throughout. Students learn how to distinguish the similarities and differences between the sexes and the theories that explain the differences. Methodological flaws that may impact the observance of sex differences are also examined. Learning activities and pedagogical tools included in the text: Do Gender exercises which provide an opportunity to test hypotheses and explore data Sidebars on special interest topics and numerous visuals that bring the studies to life Take Home Points that summarize key concepts in bulleted format Boldfaced key terms and definitions, chapter summaries, discussion questions, and suggested readings which help students review the material New to the 5th Edition: Expanded sections on cohabitation, homosexuality, online relationships, social media influences, single-sex classrooms, sex differences in math abilities, and gender implications of divorce on health Expanded coverage of gender and parenting, gender and the workplace, gender and power, and balancing work and family An expanded intersectional approach that highlights how gender is connected to social class, race, and ethnicity, including more coverage of gender system justification theory Coverage of transgender issues including recent changes in the DSM guidelines Streamlined discussions to further engage students to think about gender issues A companion website at www.routledge.com/cw/Helgeson where instructors will find Power Point slides, multiple choice quizzes, and short answer questions with suggested answers for each chapter; and students will find flashcards of key terms, chapter outlines, and links to related websites and further reading Divided into three parts, each section builds on the previous one. First, gender and the development of gender roles across cultures are introduced. Scientific methods used to study gender, attitudes toward gender, and the latest data and theories on sex differences in cognitive, social, and emotional domains are then introduced. Theories of gender-role development, including evolutionary, social learning, social role, and gender schema theories are reviewed along with the implications of gender on achievement. Part one reviews the key information on the similarities and differences between the sexes and the theories that explain the differences which lay the foundation for the remainder of the book. Part two examines the role of gender in relationships including communication styles and the impact of these interactions on friendship and romantic relationships. The third part examines the role of gender on physical and mental health. The effects of marriage and parenting on health are reviewed, including domestic abuse, along with how gender affects the association between work and health. This is an ideal text for upper level gender-focused courses including the psychology of gender, psychology of women or men, gender issues, and gender, women’s, or men’s studies taught in psychology, women’s studies, gender studies, sociology, and anthropology.
Discover what factors, beliefs, and attitudes build a successful marriage!In the enormous social, political, and technological upheavals since World War I, the long and happy marriage has begun to seem like an endangered species. In the desperate hunt for reasons that marriages fail, most researchers have ignored the factors that help marriages succeed. Together Through Thick and Thin: A Multinational Picture of Long-Term Marriage reports a landmark study of long-term satisfaction in marriage. Instead of relying on conjecture or unproven clinical hunches, the authors studied the happily married around the world. The respondents’early experiences included the Great Depression, World War II, and the Holocaust as well as the Roaring Twenties. In the years since they married, technological change and the women's movement have made the world almost unrecognizable. Yet these people have managed to maintain both stability and quality in their marriages. The scope of Together Through Thick and Thin is sweeping: eight countries, more than 400 couples who had been happily married for between 25 and 45 years. Factors analyzed include degree of satisfaction, gender differences, socioeconomic level, family history, shared values, religious belief and practice, attitudes toward children, physical health, and problem-solving styles, among many others. Moreover, the book builds on existing documented literature on marriage. This solid background helps put its wealth of practical data into context, an ideal synthesis of theory and practice.This study delves into the reasons couples stay together and stay satisfied. What qualities and attitudes do happily married couples share? Can the factors that keep a Chilean couple together for life also apply in the very different cultures of Sweden, Israel, South Africa, the United States? What keeps a marriage together in times of crisis? How important is love?Together Through Thick and Thin helps you understand the diverse factors that affect marital quality and stability by offering a broad range of information: a comprehensive review of the literature of happy marriage cross-cultural comparisons that kindle fresh insights discussions of factors ranging from gender and economic status to family history and shared attitudes specific behaviors and attitudes that illuminate what matters most in marriage, from mutual respect to shared fun the reasons couples stick together during crises which problem-solving behaviors actually workTogether Through Thick and Thin provides psychologists, family therapists, and couples counselors with the solid data they need to guide couples in crisis toward greater intimacy, commitment, and joy together.
