Getting married is one of life’s biggest joys, and the life-long benefits that come with it are the cherry on top. Your spouse can help eliminate feelings of stress and anxiety and keep you grounded in times of turmoil. They're a built-in friend with whom you can share laughs, adventures, and day-to-day events. Many scholars also believe that marriage can promote successful aging—however, a new study reveals that these longevity benefits only apply to men.
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According to a new study published in the journal International Social Work, women who are married, divorced, or widowed aren’t aging as “successfully” as their never-married peers. In contrast, married men are four times more likely to experience “successful aging” than their single male counterparts. Data shows that marital status plays an integral role in determining one’s physical health, mental health, and social well-being, especially among men.
“Our study followed over 7,000 middle-aged and older Canadians, and we noticed that some people aged well while others did not. By understanding factors associated with successful aging, we can better support older adults to thrive in later life,” explained first author Mabel Ho, a research affiliate of the Institute of Life Course and Aging at the University of Toronto’s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, of the study’s genesis in PsyPost interview.
For the study, researchers analyzed three years' worth of data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging. They surveyed the health and well-being of 7,641 participants (3,926 of whom were men and 3,715 of whom were women) over the age of 60 who are or were married or have never been married.
They marked each person’s marital status at the beginning and end of the three-year study period. Based on their marital state, individuals were split into six cohorts: newly married, continuously married, newly unmarried, continuously divorced/separated, continuously widowed, or never married. From there, the successful aging examination began.
In the case of this study, successful aging was defined as someone’s overall physical, psychological, social, and emotional well-being. Researchers were interested in assessing individuals’ physicality (having no limitations due to chronic pain), mental health (a strong emotional wellness that lacks feelings of anxiety or depression), social wellness (having a supportive partner), and self-rated wellness.
Those who satisfied the criteria were labeled “successful agers.” Everyone else was considered “typical agers.”
As for men, marriage seemingly played a pivotal role in promoting longevity. The assessment showed a higher rate of successful aging among married men than never-married men. Meanwhile, researchers also saw a decline in longevity among men experiencing divorce, separation, or widowhood. However, their results closely resembled those of their never-married peers.
Conversely, results were flipped for the women. Researchers didn’t see a discrepancy between married women and never-married women. Of their peers, those who were less likely to age successfully had experienced separation, divorce, or widowhood.
PsyPost summed it up best: “These findings suggest that marital stability may be more influential for women’s aging outcomes than the presence of marriage itself.”
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“Married men were more likely to be aging optimally than never-married men, while older women who experienced widowhood, separation, and divorce were not doing as well as their never-married peers,” added senior author Esme Fuller-Thomson, the director of the Institute of Life Course and Aging and a professor at the University of Toronto’s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work.
Overall, 70 percent of participants met all the criteria for successful aging, as defined by the study’s authors.
More research is needed to better understand the correlation between marital status and longevity, but University of Toronto professor David Burnes, who also serves as research chair at the college’s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, theorizes that the results are closely related to the benefits of companionship.
“It may be that married people encourage each other to adopt or maintain positive health behaviors such as quitting smoking or exercising regularly,” he reasoned.
