Health Lifestyle Changes During Marital Separation

Andrea Tilstra , University of Oxford
Elizabeth Lawrence, University of Nevada Las Vegas
Nicole Kapelle, Trinity College Dublin

Our social networks influence our behaviors, including those related to health. The severance of a close tie – for example, through marital separation – has direct and indirect consequences for health-related behaviors. Existing theoretical frameworks about health behaviors indicate that rather than existing alone, these behaviors cluster together based on shared norms and identities to form a health lifestyle. The end of a marriage, the associated stress and life changes, and the identity shifts that occur in the aftermath are likely to influence changes in the health lifestyles of those who separate. We seek to better understand how health lifestyles change or continue during marital separation and address two research questions: (1) What do health lifestyles look like before and after marital separation?, and (2) What socioeconomic and demographic characteristics predict health lifestyle membership and the likelihood of changing or remaining stable in that membership throughout marital separation?

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 Presented in Session 118. Flash Session Families, Partnerships and Health