American Journal of Epidemiology Advance Access originally published online on July 7, 2009
American Journal of Epidemiology 2009 170(5):546-555; doi:10.1093/aje/kwp194
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ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS |
Marital Trajectories and Mortality Among US Adults
Correspondence to Dr. Matthew E. Dupre, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, P.O. Box 90420, 2024 West Main Street, Durham, NC (e-mail: med11{at}geriduke.edu).
Received for publication May 19, 2008. Accepted for publication April 27, 2009.
More than a century of empirical evidence links marital status to mortality. However, the hazards of dying associated with long-term marital trajectories and contributing risk factors are largely unknown. The authors used 1992–2006 prospective data from a cohort of US adults to investigate the impact of current marital status, marriage timing, divorce and widow transitions, and marital durations on mortality. Multivariate hazard ratios were significantly higher for adults currently divorced and widowed, married at young ages (
18 years), who accumulated divorce and widow transitions (among women), and who were divorced for 1–4 years. Results also showed significantly lower risks of mortality for men married after age 25 years compared with on time (ages 19–25 years) and among women experiencing 
10 years of divorce and 5 years of widowhood relative to those without exposure to these statuses. For both sexes, accumulation of marriage duration was the most robust predictor of survival. Results from risk-adjusted models indicated that socioeconomic resources, health behaviors, and health status attenuated the associations in different ways for men and women. The study demonstrates that traditional measures oversimplify the relation between marital status and mortality and that sex differences are related to a nexus of marital experiences and associated health risks.
health behavior; marital status; mortality; risk factors; social class
Editor's note: An invited commentary on this article is published on page 556.
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Related articles in Am. J. Epidemiol.:
- Invited Commentary: Toward a More Comprehensive Social Epidemiology of Marital Trajectories and Mortality
- Patrick M. Krueger
Am. J. Epidemiol. 2009 170: 556-558.[Abstract] [Full Text]
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  P. M. Krueger Invited Commentary: Toward a More Comprehensive Social Epidemiology of Marital Trajectories and Mortality Am. J. Epidemiol., September 1, 2009; 170(5): 556 - 558. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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