Yes, if you are married, then stay married if you care for your health. According to a new study, people who stay married enjoy better health than the perpetually single; but it also says that losing a spouse could take a significant health toll.
Researchers found that middle-aged and older Americans who were currently married, tended to give higher ratings to their health than their never-married counterparts. They also reported fewer depression symptoms and limits on their mobility.
On the other hand, divorced or widowed adults fared worse than the never married on certain health measures – including the number of chronic health conditions reported.
“Previously married people experience, on average, 20 per cent more conditions and 23 per cent more limitations,'' the researchers write in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.
Banking on health
Remarriage seemed to lessen some of the health effects of divorce or widowhood. However, remarried men and women were still in generally poorer health than those in a lasting marriage.
“We argue that losing a marriage through divorce or widowhood is extremely stressful and that a high-stress period takes a toll on health,'' said study co-author Linda J. Waite, a professor of sociology at the University of Chicago.
“Think of health as money in the bank,'' she added. “Think of a marriage as a mechanism for ‘saving' or adding to health. Think of divorce as a period of very high expenditure.''
The findings are based on data from more than 9,100 Americans aged 50 and older who took part in a national health survey in 1992.
Overall, 55 per cent had been continuously married, four per cent had never married, and the rest had been divorced or widowed at least once.
Marital history was linked to overall health even when Waite and colleague Mary Elizabeth Hughes factored in participants' age, race, sex and education
