Relationships and Health 421Men Women24-hour SBP mmHg 105110125130100120
115Parent Non-ParentMen Women24-hour DBP mmHg68
667080826476787274Parent Non-ParentFIGURE 11.10 Parents have lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure than nonparents but the
benefit is larger for women than men.
Source: Holt-Lunstad, Birmingham, Howard, and Thoman (2009).there are a host of moderator variables that
influence whether being a parent detracts
from or adds to health. One moderator vari-
able is the health of the child. Parents of
children with disabilities have poorer psy-
chological and physical health than parents
of children without disabilities—and this dif-
ference is the same for women and men (Ha
et al., 2008). Another moderator variable is
marital status. Single parents have poorer
mental and physical health than married
parents (Cunningham & Knoester, 2007;
Evenson & Simon, 2005). Single mothers
are more depressed than married mothers,
whereas single fathers have more alcohol
problems than married fathers.
Another reason for the contradictory
findings regarding parenthood and health is
that parents are a heterogeneous group, con-
sisting of those with children at home; those
whose children have left home; those who
live with biological children, step-children, or
a combination of the two; and those who do
not have custody of their children. The differ-
ent kinds of parents were distinguished from
one another in a survey on depression (Even-
son & Simon, 2005). Overall, parents were
more depressed than nonparents. However,there were differences within the categories of
parents. First, there was no group of parents
who were better off than nonparents. How-
ever, parents who had children at home were
more depressed than nonparents but parents
whose children had left home had similar
levels of depression as nonparents. Second,
noncustodial parents and parents with adult
children living at home were more depressed
than parents with minor children at home. In
general, these findings were similar for both
women and men.
What are some of the reasons that
having children could negatively affect
health? First, children are a financial strain.
Second, children detract from the emo-
tional support available to a spouse, a point
I turn to next. Third, there are selection ef-
fect issues to consider. Healthier people are
more likely to become parents than are less
healthy people.
There also is the potential for parent-
hood to improve aspects of health. Becom-
ing a parent may provide people with a sense
of identity and meaning in life. In addition,
being a parent discourages poor health
behavior. People are less likely to engage in
substance abuse when they become parents.M11_HELG0185_04_SE_C11.indd 421 6/21/11 12:43 PM