MARRIAGE, SEX, AND MORTALITY

This study endeavors to illuminate the relations between marital status and length of life among 36,142 individuals between the ages of 25 and 64 from two combined national data sets. Case-control methodology is used to compare individuals who died in 1986 with those who survived the year. Specific causes of death are also examined. Results from logistic regression analysis indicate that marital status differentially affects mortality, but not in a social vacuum. Instead, marital status and income both influence mortality. In addition, sex is found to interact with marital status and with both overall mortality and cause-specific mortality. The findings reveal variations by sex and by marital status for social pathologies such as homicide and cirrhosis of the liver.