Does Community Context Have an Important Impact on Divorce Risk? A Fixed-Effects Study of Twenty Norwegian First-Marriage Cohorts

The decision to divorce may be affected by the characteristics of the local community. Community characteristics may be barriers to divorce, or they may increase the attractiveness of divorcing (e.g., access to a good remarriage market), but our knowledge of such influences is sparse. This study examines two such community-level factors: socio-economic conditions and the local marriage market. In this study, discrete-time hazard models with community-level fixed effects are estimated using register-based data on Norwegian first marriages during the period from 1980 to 1999, with longitudinal information on both the community and couple levels (N = 283,493). The results show that there are important community-level influences on couples’ divorce risk, but these change dramatically when fixed effects are introduced

Education and Income Show Heterogeneous Relationships to Lifespan Brain and Cognitive Differences Across European and US Cohorts.

Higher socio-economic status (SES) has been proposed to have facilitating and protective effects on brain and cognition. We ask whether relationships between SES, brain volumes and cognitive ability differ across cohorts, by age and national origin. European and US cohorts covering the lifespan were studied (4-97 years, N = 500 000; 54 000 w/brain imaging). There was substantial heterogeneity across cohorts for all associations. Education was positively related to intracranial (ICV) and total gray matter (GM) volume. Income was related to ICV, but not GM. We did not observe reliable differences in associations as a function of age. SES was more strongly related to brain and cognition in US than European cohorts. Sample representativity varies, and this study cannot identify mechanisms underlying differences in associations across cohorts. Differences in neuroanatomical volumes partially explained SES-cognition relationships. SES was more strongly related to ICV than to GM, implying that SES-cognition relations in adulthood are less likely grounded in neuroprotective effects on GM volume in aging. The relatively stronger SES-ICV associations rather are compatible with SES-brain volume relationships being established early in life, as ICV stabilizes in childhood. The findings underscore that SES has no uniform association with, or impact on, brain and cognition

Couple’s Relationship After the Death of a Child: a Systematic Review

When a child dies, the parents must address the changes in their relationship as well as the way that these changes affect their individual adjustment. These two perspectives are addressed in this systematic review. Five databases were systematically searched for papers published in English between January 2000 and February 2014. Of the 646 publications, 24 papers met the inclusion criteria. The results suggest that a child’s death can cause cohesive as well as detrimental effects on a couple’s relationship. Variables that may produce differential outcomes for the marital relationship include situational factors, such as the cause and type of death and the child’s age at the time of death; dyad-level factors, such as surviving children, the pre-death characteristics of the relationship, communication and incongruent grieving; and individuallevel factors, such as the family of origin’s processing of trauma, social support, religious affiliation and finding meaning. Aspects such as marital quality and the couple’s interdependence were found to influence each parent’s individual adjustment. Larger, prospective, ethically conducted studies should be implemented to consolidate these findings. Mental health professionals may benefit from a deeper understanding of the risk and protective factors regarding marital adjustment after a child’s death

Like Mother(-in-Law) Like Daughter? Influence of the Older Generation’s Fertility Behaviours on Women’s Desired Family Size in Bihar, India

This paper investigates the associations between preferred family size of women in rural Bihar, India and the fertility behaviours of their mother and mother-in-law. Scheduled interviews of 440 pairs of married women aged 16–34 years and their mothers-in-law were conducted in 2011. Preferred family size is first measured by Coombs scale, allowing us to capture latent desired number of children and then categorized into three categories (low, medium and high). Women’s preferred family size is estimated using ordered logistic regression. We find that the family size preferences are not associated with mother’s fertility but with mother’s education. Mother-in-law’s desired number of grandchildren is positively associated with women’s preferred family size. However, when the woman has higher education than her mother-in-law, her preferred family size gets smaller, suggesting that education provides women with greater autonomy in their decision-making on childbearing

Changes over time in the effect of marital status on cancer survival

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Rates of all-cause and cause-specific mortality are higher among unmarried than married individuals. Cancer survival is also poorer in the unmarried population. Recently, some studies have found that the excess all-cause mortality of the unmarried has increased over time, and the same pattern has been shown for some specific causes of death. The objective of this study was to investigate whether there has been a similar change over time in marital status differences in cancer survival.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Discrete-time hazard regression models for cancer deaths among more than 440 000 women and men diagnosed with cancer 1970-2007 at age 30-89 were estimated, using register data encompassing the entire Norwegian population. More than 200 000 cancer deaths during over 2 million person-years of exposure were analyzed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The excess mortality of the never-married compared to the married has increased steadily for men, in particular the elderly. Among elderly women, the excess mortality of the never-married compared to the married has increased, and there are indications of an increasing excess mortality of the widowed. The excess mortality of divorced men and women, however, has been stable.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>There is no obvious explanation for the increasing disadvantage among the never-married. It could be due to a relatively poorer general health at time of diagnosis, either because of a more protective effect of partnership in a society that may have become less cohesive or because of more positive selection into marriage. Alternatively, it could be related to increasing differentials with respect to treatment. Today's complex cancer therapy regimens may be more difficult for never-married to follow, and health care interventions directed and adapted more specifically to the broad subgroup of never-married patients might be warranted.</p

Underuse of medication for circulatory disorders among unmarried women and men in Norway?

BACKGROUND: It is well established that unmarried people have higher mortality from circulatory diseases and higher all-cause mortality than the married, and these marital status differences seem to be increasing. However, much remains to be known about the underlying mechanisms. Our objective was to examine marital status differences in the purchase of medication for circulatory diseases, and risk factors for them, which may indicate underuse of such medication by some marital status groups. METHODS: Using data from registers covering the entire Norwegian population, we analysed marital status differences in the purchase of medicine for eight circulatory disorders by people aged 50-79 in 2004-2008. These differences were compared with those in circulatory disease mortality during 2004-2007, considered as indicating probable differences in disease burden. RESULTS: The unmarried had 1.4-2.8 times higher mortality from the four types of circulatory diseases considered. However, the never-married in particular purchased less medicine for these diseases, or precursor risk factors of these diseases, primarily because of a low chance of making a first purchase. The picture was more mixed for the divorced and widowed. Both groups purchased less of some of these medicines than the married, but, especially in the case of the widowed, relatively more of other types of medicine. In contrast to the never-married, divorced and widowed people were as least as likely as the married to make a first purchase, but adherence rates thereafter, indicated by continuing purchases, were lower. CONCLUSION: The most plausible interpretation of the findings is that compared with married people, especially the never-married more often have circulatory disorders that are undiagnosed or for which they for other reasons underuse medication. Inadequate use of these potentially very efficient medicines in such a large population group is a serious public health challenge which needs further investigation. It is possible that marital status differences in use of medicines for circulatory disorders combined with an increasing importance of these medicines have contributed to the widening marital status gap in mortality observed in several countries. This also requires further investigation