Are Married Men Healthier than Single Women? A Gender Comparison of the Health Effects of Marriage and Marital Satisfaction in East Asia

Macro-level gender equality and women's depressive symptoms in South Korea: a longitudinal study

PURPOSE

In 2014, the Korean Government passed the Gender Equality Act, which was accompanied by policies to increase women's participation in the labour force and representation in positions of power in the public and private sectors. While Korea has witnessed modest progress in macro-level gender equality, little is known about the effects of these changes on mental health outcomes. Our study investigated the relationship between regional-level gender equality (as measured by women's economic and political power) and women's depressive symptoms from 2013-18, and whether the effects differed across women from different socioeconomic positions.

METHODS

To examine how change over time in political and economic power influences the severity of depressive symptoms, we applied a fixed-effect regression, using a nationally representative sample for women aged 19-64 (n = 9,589) from the Korean Longitudinal Survey of Women and Families (2013-2018, wave 4 to 6) residing across the 16 regions of South Korea.

RESULTS

Our study found that increases in women's political and economic power led to moderate reductions in depressive symptoms (-0.25 and -0.23 points in CESD respectively). Sensitivity analyses indicate that economic power is more consistently associated with subsequent reductions in CESD. The effect of economic and political power on depressive symptoms did not differ by women's socioeconomic positions.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that even modest improvements in gender equality were associated with increases in women's mental health. Further progress to ensure gender equality, such as the anti-discrimination legislation, may lead to greater improvements in public mental health.

Gender with marital status, cultural differences, and vulnerability to hypertension: Findings from the national survey for noncommunicable disease risk factors and mental health using WHO STEPS in Bhutan

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the Kingdom of Bhutan. Thus, the early detection and prevention of hypertension is critical for reducing cardiovascular disease. However, the influence of sociocultural factors on vulnerability to hypertension needs further investigation. This study performed secondary data analysis on 1,909 individuals in a cross-sectional study (the National survey for noncommunicable disease risk factors and mental health using World Health Organization (WHO) STEPS approach in Bhutan- 2014). Multivariate logistic regression demonstrated a significant association between gender with marital status and hypertension. Women had a higher odds ratio than men (Ref) when married (AOR: 1.27, 95% confidence intervals (CI): 1.23-1.31), and when separated, divorced, or widowed (AOR: 1.18, 95% CI: 1.12-1.26). People who speak the Tshanglakha language scored the highest odds (AOR: 1.24, 95% CI: 1.20-1.27), followed by Lhotshamkha (AOR: 1.09, 95% CI: 1.06-1.12) and Dzongkha (Ref) after adjusting for various social and biomedical factors. Additionally, tobacco use displayed decreased odds for hypertension. To promote the early detection and prevention of hypertension, these cultural factors should be considered even within small geographic areas, such as Bhutan. It is necessary to strengthen hypertension preventive strategies for people who speak Tshanglakha and Lhotshamkha. Furthermore, careful consideration should be given to preventing hypertension among adults aged 40 years or more, women who are married, separated, divorced, or widowed, and men who never married in Bhutan.

Exploring the Influences of Hegemonic and Complicit Masculinity on Lifestyle Risk Factors for Noncommunicable Diseases Among Adult Men in Maseru, Lesotho

Masculinity is an important health determinant and has been studied as a risk factor for communicable diseases in the African context. This paper explores how hegemonic and complicit masculinities influence the lifestyle risk factors for noncommunicable diseases among men. A qualitative research method was used, where eight focus group discussions were conducted among adult men in Maseru, Lesotho. The data were analyzed using a thematic analysis approach. Although the participants typically described taking responsibility as a key feature of what it meant to be a man in Lesotho, their reported behaviors and rationales indicated that men commonly abdicated responsibility for their health to women. Participants were aware of the negative effects of smoking on health and acknowledged the difficulty to stop smoking due to the addictive nature of the habit. The initiation of smoking was linked by participants to the need to be seen as a man, and then maintained as a way of distinguishing themselves from the feminine. Regarding harmful alcohol consumption, participants reported that stress, particularly in their relationships with women, were linked to the need to drink, as they reported limited outlets for emotional expression for men in Lesotho. On the subject of poor diet, the study found that most men were aware of the importance of vegetable consumption; the perceived lengthy preparation process meant they typically depended on women for such healthy food preparation. Almost all participants were aware of the increased susceptibility to diverse negative health effects from physical inactivity, but because of the physical nature of the work, those engaged in traditionally masculine occupations did not exercise. In the context of lifestyle risk factors for noncommunicable diseases, masculinity has positive and negative impacts. It is important to design health education programs targeting men to successfully mitigate the negative health impacts of masculinity.

The effect of the presence of children on adult smoking behaviour: empirical evidence based on China family panel studies

BACKGROUND

Despite a number of studies linking family and marriage factors with health behaviour, the effects of children on the health behaviour of parents are still understudied. This study explored the association between the presence of children and adults' smoking behaviours.

METHODS

This study used panel data from the China Family Panel Studies 2010 and 2012, and the data set included 23,157 households and 45,513 adults. Logistic regression was performed to analyse the association of the presence of children on adults' smoking behaviours. Subgroup regression was used to examine heterogeneous effects.

RESULTS

Full sample regressions showed that the number of children was significantly inversely associated with smoking behaviour (OR = 0.93; 95% 0.90-0.96). Further subsample regression finds that such effect is only significant among the high-education group (OR = 0.92; 95% 0.87-0.97), high-skill workers (OR = 0.89; 95% 0.80-0.99) and couples who had an age gap greater than 2 years (OR = 0.91; 95% 0.88-0.95).

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings confirm the existence of the upward intergenerational effect of the presence of children on adults' smoking behaviour in China. However, such effects are not equal across all demographic characteristics. Future research could explore other parts of the upward mechanism and possible pathways for a stronger effect. In resource-poor areas, targeting cessation activities at those who have children at an early age may be an effective strategy.

Subjective Health and Happiness in the United States: Gender Differences in the Effects of Socioeconomic Status Indicators

Background

Education, employment, and marital status are among the main socioeconomic status (SES) indicators that are associated with subjective health and happiness. The effects of these SES indicators may, however, be different for various demographic groups.

Aims

To understand if SES indicators differently impact men and women, we tested gender differences in the effects of education, employment, and marital status on the subjective health and happiness of American adults.

Methods

This cross-sectional study used data of the General Social Survey (GSS), a series of nationally representative surveys between 1972 and 2018 in the US. Our analytical sample included 65,814 adults. The main independent variables were education attainment, marital status, and employment. Outcomes were self-rated health (SRH) and happiness measured using single items. Age and year of the study were covariates. Gender was the moderator.

Results

Overall, high education, being employed, and being married were associated with better SRH and happiness. We, however, found significant interactions between gender and educational attainment, marital status, and employment on the outcomes, which suggested that the effect of high education and marital status were stronger for women. In comparison, the effect of employment was stronger for men. Some inconsistencies in the results were observed for SRH compared to happiness.

Conclusions

In the United States, while education, employment, and marital status are critical social determinants of subjective health and happiness, these effects vary between women and men. Men's outcomes seem to be more strongly shaped by employment, while women's outcomes are more strongly shaped by education and marital status.

Living single: A phenomenological study of a group of South African single women

Worldwide, societies continue to privilege the ideology of couplehood to the detriment of other relationship states, like singlehood, that are steadily increasing in number. Furthermore, according to developmental psychology theory, the formation of a committed romantic relationship is viewed as an important psychosocial developmental task in adulthood. It is therefore not surprising that women’s experience of being single has generally been neglected by psychological theory and research. Situated in a feminist-phenomenological perspective, this study explored the experiences of tertiary-educated, child-free, never-married, White, South African women between the ages of 30 and 40. Giorgi’s descriptive-phenomenological method was used to analyse the individual interview data. In this article, we discuss four of the prominent themes that best reflect the collective views and multi-faceted experiences of the participants: singlehood brings both freedom and loneliness; career as both fulfilment and singlehood coping mechanism; committed partners as sources of both restriction and connection; and hoping for a committed relationship. We highlight how the notion of a committed sexual relationship as the ultimate relationship that provides effortless connectedness and companionship underpins all of these themes. We argue that alternative discourses and mechanisms of connection that accommodate people who live as single adults, should be fostered.