Why do the divorced have a higher morbidity and mortality rate than the married?

Question

QUOTE: "Martial status is a significant contributor to an individual's state of health and well-being--perhaps the most significant factor. Married people suffer less from illness and disease and typically enjoy a longer life than those who are not married." (1)
"Married people have the lowest morbidity rates, while the divorced show the highest. Naturally, the morality rates are lower as well." (2)END QUOTE


Sources:
1) Sara S. McLanahas and Gary Sandefur, Growing Up with a Single-Parent, What Hurts, What Helps (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1994) p. 19
2) David T. Ellwood, Poor Support: Poverty in the American Family (New York: Basic Books, 1988)

Joe Citizen - I gave you my sources, could you kindly provide yours? Thanks.

Answer 1

My parents were married for 59 years until my father's death at age 82.

My five siblings are all in marriages of 20 or more years, with the longest being 38 years.

I'm the lone holdout, and I have the most health problems (though many are genetic in nature). DNA is a roll of the dice.

But overall, it seems valid enough to me to grant provisional acceptance of the study's findings. After all, it DID survive peer review.

Answer 2

Although the study is reproducible, it is difficult to assess.

Divorce is a major stressor and stress causes a variety of negative physiological traits.

On the other hand, poor health can contribute to divorce. The biggest disease leading to divorce is alcoholism. Other diseases can trigger depression that leads to divorce, then suicide. It doesn't take too many suicides of younger adults to skew the numbers. Lastly, disease can be impoverishing, and poverty can lead to divorce and shorter life.

This is why correlation does not imply causation. It seems to hold true when you correct for all the confounders, and there probably is more than a grain of truth to it, but the data is "noisy".

Answer 3

Interesting how so many have a problem with the age of the study. Don't they know that the statistics are valid until a new study replaces the old one?

Human adults are meant to be married, God said that, " it is not good for a man to be alone." So He made a woman to be a companion for him and since a man and a woman were made for each other we get through life better with a spouse.

Answer 4

It could have something to do with the reason for their divorce. For example, if someone was divorced because of a cheating spouse, the trauma of that discovery may have a very emotional impact. Married people are happy and secure. Divorced ones are usually sad and heartbroken, feeling like they've lost everything..........................

Answer 5

Interesting that the two sources are over ten years old. But in my opinion, people who choose to have life-long partners tend to have a more stable and secure life.

Answer 6

Probably because married life is supposed to be more stable, and less prone to dangerous and risky behavior like drinking smoking, fast driving, fist fights, crime, etc.

Answer 7

Possibly- the people who take great care of their relationships are more likely to take great care of their physical self. That says more about the kind of people who marry/take care of themselves than about marriage.

Answer 8

Going through it literally breaks the heart compounded by leaving less reason to live.

Answer 9

It probably has more to do with the traits of some percentage of people who are not able to stay married.

Answer 10

Married people are more likely to look after each other. Woman are always nagging guys about their eating habits and exercise levels when they're married.