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The Association Between Relationship Status and Health: The Role of Relationship Quality, Past Relationship Experiences, and Gender

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Melanie Reyes at Saint Louis University
Melanie Reyes
Eddie M. Clark
Eddie M. Clark
Eddie M. Clark
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Hisako Matsuo at Saint Louis University
Hisako Matsuo
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Abstract and Figures

Given inconsistencies in the literature, we examined the role of relationship quality, past relationship experiences (i.e., prior marital experiences and unmarried cohabitation experiences), and demographic characteristics (i.e., gender and age) in the association between relationship status and health. We analyzed data from the 2010 Married and Cohabiting Couples Study, a cross-sectional survey study conducted in the United States. Data were collected from married and unmarried individuals in cohabiting mixed-gender relationships (N = 2,150). Participants completed self-report measures online. We conducted t-tests, multiple regressions, path analyses, and an ANOVA to test hypotheses. Key findings were that (a) relationship quality had a stronger association with health than relationship status, (b) prior marital experiences and unmarried cohabitation experiences were negatively associated with health, (c) married women significantly reported better health than unmarried women, and (d) married men and unmarried men did not significantly differ in reported health. Descriptive statistics showed that younger adults may perceive their health more positively than older adults regardless of relationship status. Future research should consider historical context, recruitment of diverse participant samples, and more precise operational definitions of health.
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Contemporary Family Therapy
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10591-024-09718-8
association, given that healthy people may be more likely
to get married. Some research has provided support for a
selection eect (DeMaris, 2018; Koball et al., 2010), but
most research has shown that marriage is a predictor of
future health (Barton et al., 2022; DeMaris & Oates, 2022;
Slatcher & Schoebi, 2017), and this is likely to be the case
across cultures (Jebb et al., 2020). Marriage may be posi-
tively associated with health because married people are
more likely to receive social support, self-expanding oppor-
tunities, and the motivation to take care of their health (Dun-
can et al., 2006; Grover & Helliwell, 2019; McIntyre et al.,
2022; Shapiro & Keyes, 2008).
In some research, life satisfaction was found to increase
after the dissolution of a bad marriage (Bourassa et al.,
2015; Symoens et al., 2014). It has been suggested that mar-
riage does not predict better health when perceived marital
quality is low (Chapman & Guven, 2016; Lawrence et al.,
2019; Williams, 2003). It is likely worthwhile for people to
leave a bad marriage rather than stay in it. In contrast, other
research has shown that the dissolution of a marriage is a
distressing event (Hsu & Barrett, 2020; Strohschein et al.,
2005), even when marital quality was perceived as low prior
Loneliness has a strong connection to mortality rates (Beller,
2022; Henriksen et al., 2019), as does social isolation (Beller
& Wagner, 2018; Lennartsson et al., 2022), which demon-
strates that close relationships are substantially important
for health (Braithwaite & Holt-Lunstad, 2017). As such, it
should be no surprise that long-term marriage may lead to
better health (Braithwaite & Holt-Lunstad, 2017; Diener et
al., 2000). Still, scholars have pondered the temporal order
of the association between marriage and health (Koball et
al., 2010). There may be a selection eect that explains this
Melanie A. Reyes
melanie.reyes@slu.edu
Eddie M. Clark
eddie.clark@health.slu.edu
Hisako Matsuo
hisako.matsuo@slu.edu
1 Department of Psychology, Saint Louis University, St. Louis,
USA
2 Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Saint Louis
University, St. Louis, USA
Abstract
Given inconsistencies in the literature, we examined the role of relationship quality, past relationship experiences (i.e.,
prior marital experiences and unmarried cohabitation experiences), and demographic characteristics (i.e., gender and age)
in the association between relationship status and health. We analyzed data from the 2010 Married and Cohabiting Couples
Study, a cross-sectional survey study conducted in the United States. Data were collected from married and unmarried
individuals in cohabiting mixed-gender relationships (N = 2,150). Participants completed self-report measures online. We
conducted t-tests, multiple regressions, path analyses, and an ANOVA to test hypotheses. Key ndings were that (a) rela-
tionship quality had a stronger association with health than relationship status, (b) prior marital experiences and unmarried
cohabitation experiences were negatively associated with health, (c) married women signicantly reported better health
than unmarried women, and (d) married men and unmarried men did not signicantly dier in reported health. Descriptive
statistics showed that younger adults may perceive their health more positively than older adults regardless of relationship
status. Future research should consider historical context, recruitment of diverse participant samples, and more precise
operational denitions of health.
Keywords Relationship status · Marriage · Relationship quality · Past relationship experiences · Gender · Health
Accepted: 24 September 2024
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2024
The Association Between Relationship Status and Health: The Role of
Relationship Quality, Past Relationship Experiences, and Gender
Melanie A.Reyes1· Eddie M.Clark1· HisakoMatsuo2
1 3
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