Abstract

Strong social relationships consistently predict the quality of both physical and mental health. Society commonly recognizes the marriage relationship as one of the most committed, enduring relationships. While marital status alone can strongly predict health, it appears that moderating factors exist in this association. The quality of one's marriage can have a greater effect on health than marital status alone. We conducted a meta-analysis examining the strength of the influence that marital quality has on physical health, specifically indicated by mortality rates. To identify relevant articles, we searched multiple online databases (Embase, Psycinfo, Family and Society Studies Worldwide, and Academic Search Ultimate) up to May, 2021. We included studies that had a measure of marital quality linked with a measure of mortality. We identified 23 articles, with a combined total of 73,492 participants. We pre-registered this analysis with the PROSPERO International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews Registration #CRD42020145352. Members of the research team coded each relevant article for the variables in the study. We then analyzed the data using random effects models. Results indicated that a statistically significant relationship exists between marital quality and survival across all studies reviewed, with high-quality marriage being positively associated with improved survival rates (OR = 1.265, 95% CI = 1.08 to 1.48, p = .003, n = 10, HR = 1.15, 95% CI = 1.05 to 1.26, p = .004, n = 12). Moderation analyses identified that the association tended to be much stronger when studies evaluated patients with a physical illness than when studies involved community samples with ostensibly normal levels of physical health. Thus the influence of marital quality on longevity is most pronounced when one of the spouses has poor health. These results support an increased focus on marital considerations in psychology, public health, and medical care.

Degree

PhD

College and Department

David O. McKay School of Education; Counseling Psychology and Special Education

Rights

https://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/