Early marriage,premarital fertility,and marital dissolution: results for Blacks and Whites

Based on data from the marital histories contained in the 1973 National Survey of Family Growth, this research investigates the impact of age at 1st marriage and premarital fertility status on subsequent marital dissolution for both black women and white women 1st married between 1950 and 1970. Results, using multivariate proportional hazards models, indicate that 1) premarital births, but not premarital pregnancies, increase the risk of marital dissolution; 2) an increasing age at the 1st marriage reduces the risk of marital separation and divorce, but not monotonically; 3) blacks differ from whites in that they are less responsive to the effects of a premarital birth or a young age at 1st marriage in increasing the likelihood of marital instability; and 4) an older age at 1st marriage offsets somewhat the destabilizing effects of a premarital birth. Variables used in the analysis include husband/wife age difference at marriage, education at marriage, farm versus nonfarm background, stability of parental marriage, religion, religiosity, work before marriage, number of siblings, urban or rural residence, western versus nonwestern region, 1st marriage cohort, premarital fertility status and age at 1st marriage. Policy implications include reducing the level of premarital births, and establishing support programs for those having a premarital birth without a legitimating marriage which will delay subsequent marriage, especially if the birth occurred at a young age.     

Premarital cohabitation and postmarital cohabiting union formation

"Previous research has indicated that premarital cohabitation decreases marital stability. This study examined the role of premarital cohabitation as a determinant of cohabitation after marital disruption. The author proposed that people who cohabited with their first spouse prior to marriage have a greater propensity to cohabit after marital disruption than people who did not cohabit before their first marriage. Event history analysis of the postmarital union experiences of women and men from the Canadian 1990 Family and Friends Survey (FFS) supports this proposition. It was found that the hazard rate of postmarital cohabitation was over 50% higher for premarital cohabitants than for noncohabitants."     

Marital instability after midlife

"Divorce in later life has been shown to produce dramatic declines in the economic, psychological, and physical well-being of marital partners. This study examines the prevalence and determinants of marital disruption after midlife using Becker's theory of marital instability. Using recent Canadian national data, the marital outcomes of women and men who were married as of age 40 are tracked across the remaining years of the marriage. Cox proportional hazard regression models indicate stabilizing effects of the duration of the marriage, the age at first marriage, the presence of young children, as well as of remarriage for middle-aged and older persons. Other significant risk factors include education, heterogamous marital status, premarital cohabitation, number of siblings, and region."     

男男性行为者婚姻/婚姻意愿现状及影响因素分析

目的了解男男性行为者(MSM)婚姻/婚姻意愿现状及其相关影响因素。方法采用滚雪球抽样法,在四川省绵阳市某茶园共抽取400名MSM为研究对象进行匿名现场问卷调查。结果400名MSM中已婚/有结婚意愿者占49.5%(其中已婚者占23.0%,有结婚意愿者占26.5%),无结婚意愿者占50.5%;多因素logistic回归分析结果显示,年龄25~44岁、双性及不确定性取向、外市户籍、首次性行为对象为女性、近6个月有女性性行为者已婚/有结婚意愿的比例较高,近1年接受预防性服务和累计男性固定性伴数1~4人者已婚/有结婚意愿的比例较低。结论绵阳市MSM人群已婚/结婚意愿比例较低,其婚姻及婚姻意愿受人口学特征、性伴及性行为等因素影响。     

Marital status,cohabitation, and risk of preterm birth in Europe: where births outside marriage are common and uncommon

This article explores whether the impact of marital status on the risk of preterm birth varies in relation to marital practices in the population, defined by the proportion of out-of-marriage births. Data come from a case-control study of the determinants of preterm birth in 16 European countries (5456 cases and 8234 controls). There is a significantly elevated risk of preterm birth associated with both cohabitation (OR = 1.29 [1.08, 1.55]) and single motherhood (OR = 1.61 [1.26, 2.07]) for women living in countries where fewer than 20 of births occur outside marriage. In contrast, there is no excess risk associated with marital status when out-of-marriage births are more common. This overall result does not apply to all subgroups of preterm births: different patterns emerge for early preterm births and preterm births induced for medical reasons. It is important to consider social context in the analysis of individual risk factors.     

Cumulative impact of early maternal marital age during the childbearing period

Early marriage of girls, close to age of menarche, is a widespread practice in Arab countries. Knowledge on the cumulative effect of early maternal marriage on maternal and infant health during the childbearing period is insufficient. The objectives of this study were to estimate the prevalence of early maternal marriage in Jeddah, identify its relation with other maternal risk factors, and investigate the cumulative impact of early maternal marriage on subsequent maternal health and pregnancy outcomes throughout the reproductive period. Data were collected from six randomly selected primary health care units in Jeddah City. Married women with an infant < or = 12 completed months of age were interviewed and information on sociodemographic characteristics, maternal health and previous pregnancy outcomes were collected. Early marriage of girls before the age of 16 years accounted for 26.5% of the study population and was reported by a third of mothers currently below the age of 20 years. Illiterate mothers, housewives, multiparae, smokers and those married to a relative reported the highest proportion of marriages before their sixteenth birthday. Those who married before the age of 16 were at about double the risk of developing chronic diseases and experiencing miscarriage, stillbirths and infant deaths. These results suggest that early maternal marriage still exists in our community and is intimately related to other maternal risk factors. Maternal marriage < 16 years appears to be fraught with insecurities for the mother and infant throughout the whole length of the childbearing period and not merely the first pregnancy. Thus, even if culture norms claim early marriage of girls, it should be discouraged before the age of 16 years. Moreover, it is recommended that future research on maternal and infant health considers the cumulative effect of the various risk factors during the whole reproductive period and not only a single pregnancy outcome.     

Union status, marital history and female contraceptive sterilization in the United States

CONTEXT: Much of what is known about the choice of sterilization as a contraceptive method is based on data from married women or couples. Because of increasing rates of cohabitation, divorce and repartnering, however, the relationship context in which sterilization decisions are made has changed. METHODS: The 1995 National Survey of Family Growth includes the complete birth and union histories of 10,277 white, black and Hispanic women. The distribution of union status and marital history at the time of tubal sterilization was estimated for these three racial and ethnic groups among the 799 women who had had a tubal ligation in 1990-1995 before age 40. Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to estimate the effects of union status and marital history on the risk of tubal sterilization. The analysis controlled for the woman's age, parity, race and ethnicity education, region, experience of an unwanted birth and calendar period. RESULTS: Among women who obtained a tubal sterilization, most whites (79%) and Hispanics (66%) were married when they had the operation, compared with only 36% of black women. At the time of their sterilization, 46% of black women had never been married. Among all women, regardless of race and ethnicity and net of all controls, the probability of tubal sterilization is about 25% lower for single, never-married women than for cohabiting or married women. Cohabitation does not reduce the likelihood in comparison to marriage, however. Higher rates of tubal sterilization among Hispanic women are accounted for by their higher parity at each age; differences in parity or marriage by race only partially account for the relatively higher rates of tubal sterilization among black women. CONCLUSIONS: Because women currently spend greater proportions of their lives outside of marriage or in less-stable cohabiting partnerships than they did in the past, they are increasingly likely to make the decision to seek sterilization on their own. As a result, the gender gap in contraceptive sterilization will likely increase. The possibility of partnership change is an important consideration in choosing sterilization as a contraceptive method.     

Accidents,assaults, and marital status

Marriage may reduce the risk of accidents and assaults by promoting social control of health behavior. This study examines the impact of marital status on non-fatal accidents and assaults in young British women. Data is drawn from a large cohort study of the people born in 1958. Rate ratios of overall and specific incidence of non-fatal accidents and assaults are determined by negative binomial regression, with adjustment for socio–economic and behavioral confounders. The null hypothesis of no association between marital status and incidence of non-fatal accidents and assaults is rejected. It is suggested that, independent of parental status, more exposure to marriage and less exposure to marital dissolution may reduce accidents and assaults.     

Do you need to shop around? Age at marriage,spousal alternatives,and marital dissolution

"This article attempts to shed light on the oft-observed relationship between age at marriage and marital dissolution by first deriving a hypothesis from marital search theory that relates both variables to the supply of spousal alternatives in the local marriage market. This hypothesis states that, relative to people who marry later in life, persons who marry at comparatively young ages will be especially susceptible to divorce when confronted with abundant alternatives to their current spouse. Marital history data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth were then merged with aggregated data from the Public Use Microdata Samples of the 1980 U.S. census to test this hypothesis." The author finds that "discrete-time event history analyses offer no support for this hypothesis. Although the risk of marital dissolution is highest where either husbands or wives chance numerous spousal alternatives, the impact of age at marriage on divorce is significantly weaker in marriage markets containing abundant remarriage opportunities. Some of the effect of age at marriage on marital dissolution is attributable to the detrimental impact of early marriage on educational attainment."     

Shared Religious Beliefs,Prayer, and Forgiveness as Predictors of Marital Satisfaction

Results of numerous studies have demonstrated a positive relation between religiosity and marital well‐being. In this study, the authors examined direct effects on marital satisfaction of religious homogamy, prayer for spousal well‐being, and forgiveness. They also examined the degree to which religiosity buffered against risks to marital well‐being. The results indicated significant positive linear relations between each indicator of religiosity and marital satisfaction. Furthermore, religiosity moderated, or buffered against, the negative effects of risk factors; specifically, religious homogamy buffered against previous divorce; prayer buffered against having a high‐stress marriage; and spousal forgiveness buffered against cohabitation before marriage, previous divorce, and stressful marriage.     

Magnitude and directional effects of marital sex-role incongruence on marital adjustment

Economic and social forces have converged to influence the fundamental nature of marriage in the 1980s. Marriages are shifting from the complementary type, in which the husband is employed and the wife cares for the household and children, to the parallel type, in which both spouses are employed and both are responsible for the housework. This study examines the relationship between marital sex role incongruence and marital adjustment. Both the magnitude and the direction of the incongruence are related to marital adjustment level. The study's major hypothesis is that the relationship between marital sex-role incongruence and marital adjustment is a function of both the magnitude of the incongruence and the direction of the disagreement. Couples in the study were recruited from a moderately sized midwestern university community. 103 couples agreed to participate but 73 couples actually returned the questionnaire. Of these 73 couples, 63% were randomly recruited through door-to-door solicitation, 29% were recruited from an evangelical Christian organization and church, and 8% were recruited from acquaintances of the 1st author. After deleting incomplete questionnaires, final sample size was 67 couples. Each member of a marital dyad completed a questionnaire including a Dyadic Adjustment Scale to measure marital adjustment, a Sex-Role Egalitarianism Scale to measure marital sex-role orientation, a Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale Short Form C to measure social desirability bias, and a demographic information sheet. Findings indicate that direction of incongruence plays a very important role in determining the impact of marital sex-role incongruence on marital adjustment; namely, the greater the incongruence is in the direction of the wife being more egalitarian relative to her husband, the more negative is the estimated impact on marital adjustment. Conversely, the greater the incongruence is in the direction of the husband being more egalitarian than his wife, the more positive is its estimated impact on marital adjustment.     

Economic well-being following marital termination: a comparison of widowed and divorced women

Several studies of divorced and widowed women show increased odds of becoming poor following the termination of marriage. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal data suggest that the end of marriage is correlated with higher poverty rates. Less is know, however, about factors that influence economic well-being over time, and whether these factors are similar for widows and divorced women. This analysis uses data from the National Longitudinal Surveys cohort of mature women (1967-1982) to examine the probability of becoming poor after widowhood or divorce among mid-life women, and factors that seem to influence economic well-being. Findings show that 40% of widows and over 1/4 of divorced women fall into poverty for at least some time during the 1st 5 years after leaving marriage. The type of marital transition experienced by the woman is not a significant factor in economic well-being, but both age and prior economic standing have positive estimated effects.     

Gender differences in determinants of marital disruption

"Because the family is a highly gendered institution, the authors anticipated that characteristics of husbands and wives would have differing influences on marital disruption. Longitudinal data from the [U.S.] National Survey of Families and Households were used to examine the influence of sociodemographic and attitudinal characteristics of each spouse on the likelihood of marital disruption. In general, wives' variables have a stronger influence than do husbands' variables, suggesting that wives play a greater role in maintenance of marital relationships and are more sensitive to problems in the relationship. The relative influence of each spouse's characteristics is more similar in egalitarian marriages, however. Findings confirm the gendered nature of marital relationships."     

婚姻暴力行为的心理社会因素分析

从施暴者的心理行为和社会环境特征介绍影响婚姻暴力的危险因素。主要包括暴力行为实施者的病理心理和病态人格、酒精滥用、压力、对暴力行为和被虐者的认知态度,是否成长在有暴力的家庭,婚姻双方的权利均衡,夫妻的交流方式七个方面。     

Divorce and marital instability over the life course

"This study uses a [U.S.] national sample of married persons under age 55, interviewed in 1980 and again in 1983, to estimate why divorce and marital instability vary by age and duration of marriage. Results indicate that the accumulation of assets substantially reduces the propensity to divorce. We also find that several important correlates of divorce and instability (age at marriage, health, social integration, and income) interact with age and duration. In general, these factors seem to operate almost exclusively among young people and young marriages."     

Cohabitation and marital status as predictors of mortality--an eight year follow-up study

In a follow-up study of 1265 women and men aged 50, 60 and 70 years, we analysed how mortality was associated with cohabitation status (living alone/not living alone), living with/without a partner, and marital status respectively. Data originate from a longitudinal questionnaire study of a random sample of people born in 1920, 1930 and 1940 with baseline in 1990. Survival time for all individuals were established during the next 8 years until May 1998. Multivariate Cox analysis stratified by age and gender showed that individuals living alone experienced a significantly increased mortality compared to individuals living with somebody HR = 1.42(1.04-1.95) adjusted for functional ability, self-rated health, having children, smoking, diet and physical activity. Similar analyses were performed for the variable living with/without a partner HR = 1.38(1.01-1.88) and marital status HR = 1.25(0.93-1.69), adjusted for the same covariates. Inclusion of the health behaviour variables--smoking, diet and physical activity--one by one to a model with functional ability, self-rated health and one of the three determinants (cohabitation status, living with/without partner, marital status) showed no effect on the association with mortality. Hereby, we found no evidence of an indirect effect of health behaviours on the association between living arrangements and mortality. In contrast to many previous studies, we found no significant gender and age differences in the association between living arrangement and mortality. We suggest that in future studies of social relations and mortality, cohabitation status is considered to replace marital status as this variable may account for more of the variation in mortality.     

Violence and injury in marital arguments: risk patterns and gender differences.

OBJECTIVES. Community-based research on violence against women typically focuses on marital arguments rather than on resulting injuries. This study investigated patterns of victimization, violence perpetration, and injury in marital arguments. METHODS. Data from the National Survey on Families and Households and binomial and multinomial logit models were used to analyze characteristics of those who experienced physical violence, as well as to determine who was the perpetrator and who was the victim. RESULTS. Men and women reported similar behaviors during verbal arguments. Young persons, urban dwellers, the less educated, those with low incomes, and Blacks were more likely to report that there had been physical violence in their marriages in the past year. Ethnicity, income, education, and number and age of children at home were not associated consistently with injury of the wife, the husband, or both. CONCLUSIONS. Persons who report physical violence in their marriage are very similar to those who are at increased risk of interpersonal violence in general. The co-occurrence of street and other nonfamily violence with spousal violence may be a fruitful area for future research.     

Involuntary childlessness and marital adjustment: his and hers

This study of 103 couples in treatment for infertility suggests that spouses are generally similar in the way they perceive their marital adjustment, but that they arrive at their views by different routes. Acceptance of a childless lifestyle is consistently associated with greater marital adjustment for men, but greater stress associated with infertility undermines marital adjustment for both husbands and wives. Men adjust better to an involuntarily childless marriage if their wives are employed or have high earnings. Wife's marital adjustment diminishes with the length of the marriage and the course of treatment for infertility. The stress women experience as a result of infertility influences their perception of their marriage and may undermine their ability to get the support they need during the transition to nonparenthood.     

已婚者婚姻态度与儿童期被忽视的关系研究

摘要:目的　探讨已婚者婚后的婚姻态度与儿童时期被忽视之间的关系。方法　采用方便抽样法选取了河北省唐山市和邯郸市已婚者共300人,使用婚姻态度量表和儿童被忽视量表进行调查。结果　男性已婚者的婚姻态度总分及各个维度评分显著高于女性已婚者;不同文化程度的已婚者婚姻态度总分及其家庭关系态度、婚姻控制态度因子分的差异具有统计学意义;婚姻态度总分与儿童被忽视总分及其各因子分存在负相关;婚姻心理准备态度分与儿童被忽视总分及其各因子分存在负相关;婚姻控制态度与儿童被忽视总分及其各因子分存在负相关。儿童被忽视的躯体忽视和交流忽视因子对婚姻态度有负向预测作用（P＜0.05）;儿童被忽视总分对婚姻心理准备态度和婚姻控制态度有负向预测作用（P＜0.05）。结论　儿童被忽视对婚姻态度有一定的预测作用。     

社区居民高血压患病率、知晓率、治疗和控制状况

目的：了解石河子市居民高血压流行特点及危险因素.方法：采用普查的方法对石河子市24小区25岁以上的常住居民2 674人进行高血压患病情况和危险因素调查.结果：高血压患病率为31.5%（男36.2%,女27.8%）,标化患病率为24.8%（男30.5%,女21.0%）.高血压患者高血压知晓率、治疗率和控制率分别为62.5%、46.2%、21.3%.单因素分析显示与高血压患病相关的危险因素有：年龄、性别、文化程度、是否在业、婚姻状况、家族史、超重、不规律锻炼及肥胖.多因素非条件Logistic回归分析显示,高血压发病的主要危险因素为年龄、超重、家族史、性别、婚姻状况、文化程度.结论：该市高血压患者人数众多,亟需开展高血压社区综合防治,重点防治人群是35岁以上、有高血压家族史、超重肥胖、离婚丧偶及文化程度低的人群.