Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Aug;105(8):1596-603.
doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2015.302644. Epub 2015 Jun 11.

Life-Course Partnership Status and Biomarkers in Midlife: Evidence From the 1958 British Birth Cohort

George B Ploubidis  1 , Richard J Silverwood  1 , Bianca DeStavola  1 , Emily Grundy  1
Affiliations

Life-Course Partnership Status and Biomarkers in Midlife: Evidence From the 1958 British Birth Cohort

George B Ploubidis et al. Am J Public Health. 2015 Aug.

Abstract

Objectives: We examined the association between trajectories of partnership status over the life course and objectively measured health indicators in midlife.

Methods: We used data from 4 waves (1981, 1991, 2000, and 2002-2004) of the British National Child Development Study (NCDS), a prospective cohort study that includes all people born in Britain during 1 week in March 1958 (n = 18 558).

Results: After controlling for selection attributable to early-life and early-adulthood characteristics, we found that life-course trajectories of partnership status were associated with hemostatic and inflammatory markers, the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and respiratory function in midlife. Never marrying or cohabiting was negatively associated with health in midlife for both genders, but the effect was more pronounced in men. Women who had married in their late 20s or early 30s and remained married had the best health in midlife. Men and women in cohabiting unions had midlife health outcomes similar to those in formal marriages.

Conclusions: Partnership status over the life course has a cumulative effect on a wide range of objectively measured health indicators in midlife.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIGURE 1—
FIGURE 1—
Longitudinal typologies of probability of marriage (solid black line) and cohabitation (dotted gray line) among men in (a) class 1, (b) class 2, (c) class 3, (d) class 4, (e) class 5, and (f) class 6: British National Child Development Study, 1981, 1991, 2000, and 2002–2004. Note: Class 1: n = 3073 (61.8%), remarried probability = 0.123. Class 2: n = 411 (8.3%), remarried probability = 0.181. Class 3: n = 373 (7.5%), remarried probability = 0.039. Class 4: n = 467 (9.4%), remarried probability = 0.379. Class 5: n = 94 (1.9%), remarried probability = 0.917. Class 6: n = 553 (11.1%), remarried probability = 0.023.
FIGURE 2—
FIGURE 2—
Longitudinal typologies of probability of marriage (solid black line) and cohabitation (dotted gray line) among women in (a) class 1, (b) class 2, (c) class 3, (d) class 4, (e) class 5, and (f) class 6: British National Child Development Study, 1981, 1991, 2000, and 2002–2004. Note. Class 1: n = 2209 (42.0%), remarried probability = 0.138. Class 2: n = 1215 (23.1%), remarried probability = 0.123. Class 3: n = 429 (8.1%), remarried probability = 0.085. Class 4: n = 294 (5.6%), remarried probability = 0.661. Class 5: n = 457 (8.7%), remarried probability = 0.312. Class 6: n = 652 (12.4%), remarried probability = 0.028.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

  • Ploubidis et al. Respond.
    Ploubidis GB, Silverwood R, De Stavola B, Grundy E. Ploubidis GB, et al. Am J Public Health. 2016 Sep;106(9):e2-3. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2016.303309. Am J Public Health. 2016. PMID: 27509286 Free PMC article. No abstract available.
  • Do Men Really Benefit More From Marriage Than Women?
    Strohschein L. Strohschein L. Am J Public Health. 2016 Sep;106(9):e2. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2016.303308. Am J Public Health. 2016. PMID: 27509287 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

References

    1. Cheung YB. Marital status and mortality in British women: a longitudinal study. Int J Epidemiol. 2000;29(1):93–99. - PubMed
    1. Eaker ED, Sullivan LM, Kelly-Hayes M, D’Agostino RB, Sr, Benjamin EJ. Marital status, marital strain, and risk of coronary heart disease or total mortality: the Framingham Offspring Study. Psychosom Med. 2007;69(6):509–513. - PubMed
    1. Hu YR, Goldman N. Mortality differentials by marital status—an international comparison. Demography. 1990;27(2):233–250. - PubMed
    1. Hughes ME, Waite LJ. Health in household context: living arrangements and health in late middle age. J Health Soc Behav. 2002;43(1):1–21. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Huijts T, Kraaykamp G. Marital status, nation marital status composition, and self assessed health: a multilevel test of four hypotheses in 29 European countries. Eur Soc. 2011;13(2):279–305.

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources