396 Chapter 11but the difference was greater for men
than women (Hughes & Waite, 2009; In-
aba et al., 2005; Jang et al., 2009; St. John &
Montgomery, 2009). A study of Hispanic
older adults found that living alone was as-
sociated with depression but more so for
men than women (Russell & Taylor, 2009).
A study of cancer survivors showed that mar-
ried men were less distressed than unmar-
ried men, but married women were more
distressed than unmarried women (Goldzweig
et al., 2009). Another study examined C-reactive
protein, a marker of inflammation that pre-
dicts cardiovascular disease, in older adults
and found that married men had lower levels
of C-reactive protein than unmarried men, but
there were no differences in C-reactive pro-
tein among married and unmarried women
(Sbarra, 2009). Married people also have a re-
duced risk of stroke compared to unmarried
persons, and the relation is stronger in men
than women (Maselko et al., 2009). Taken col-
lectively, it appears that marriage has stronger
benefits on men’s than women’s health.
Is marriage less beneficial for women
than men because marriage is associated with
relatively more distress for women or be-
cause being unmarried is associated with rel-
atively more distress for men? There is some
support for both ideas. One study showed
that the rate of psychiatric disorders was
higher among married women than married
men, but similar among unmarried women
and men (Sachs-Ericsson & Ciarlo, 2000).
However, another study showed that the
state of being unmarried was more distress-
ing for men. In a study of over 4,000 adults
in Germany, the three groups of unmarried
men were more lonely than the three groups
of unmarried women (divorced, widowed,
and never married), whereas there was no
sex difference in loneliness among the mar-
ried (see Figure 11.1; Pinquart, 2003).to lengthen the life span of their husbands.
Lees said wives should provide support to
husbands, make husbands’ lives easier, help
husbands cope with the pressures and frus-
trations they face in the working world, pro-
vide opportunities for husbands to relax, and
help husbands take care of their health.
Lees (1957) may have been too critical
of wives. It turns out that women do help
men live longer. Numerous studies have
shown that being married is advantageous
to psychological and physical health for both
women and men but that men reap greater
rewards from marriage than women do.
These findings come from large epidemio-
logical studies in which women’s and men’s
marital status and health status are measured
and then followed for many years. In three
such studies, men who were married were
less likely to die than men who were unmar-
ried over the 9 to 15 years they were followed
(Berkman & Syme, 1979; House et al., 1982;
Shye et al., 1995). Marital status did not
predict mortality among women in any of
these studies. A more recent eight-year lon-
gitudinal study showed that never-married
persons had a 158% increase in mortality
compared to married persons, but the differ-
ence between the two groups was larger for
men than women (Kaplan & Kronick, 2006).
Never-married men had especially high rates
of mortality from infectious disease and ac-
cidents if younger and heart disease if older.
Two other studies showed that being never
married was more hazardous to men’s than
women’s health (Molloy et al., 2009; Piz-
zetti & Manfredini, 2008).
On health parameters other than mor-
tality, married people also fare better and the
benefits seem to be stronger for men. Four
studies—in Japan, Korea, the United States,
and Canada—showed that married people
had less depression than unmarried people,M11_HELG0185_04_SE_C11.indd 396 6/21/11 12:43 PM