Impact of Marriage on Health - Essay Example

Running head: IMPACT OF MARRIAGE ON HEALTH Impact of Marriage on Health In relation to Gender, Age and cultural (Name of submitter) (University Name) Impact of Marriage on Health In relation to Gender, Age and cultural  In this essay the impact of marriage on health is examined taking into account the various variables like gender, age and cultural differences. Various study results have been used, to lend support to the view that marriage as an institution and its impact on health is relative to various interrelated variables. Both the positive and negative impact of marriage in relation to health has to be examined taking into account the determinants like age, gender and cultural differences. Kiecolt – Glaser and Newton (2001) discuss the various negative and positive impact of marital relationship on the health of the involved spouses. They review the evidence collected from sixty four articles spanning over a decade. Negative marital relationship can have indirect effect on health, due to psychological conditions like depression or as a result of formation of unhealthy habits. Negative facets of marriage can directly effect the functioning of various physiological systems like, endocrine, immunity, cardiovascular and neurological; which are detrimental to the physical wellbeing of an individual. Various individual differences including the gender specific variants can further multiply the impact of marital relationship on health. The various recent gender models for reviewing the positive and negative impact of marriage on the health of women and men provide a fresh perspective and dimension. The gender models concerned with analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of marital relationship accentuate on aspects like roles, traits and self-processing. (Kiecolt-Glaser JK; Newton TL. 2001. Marriage and health: his and hers) Age can be a significant determinant of the impact that marriage can have on the health of the individuals involved in the relationship as well as that of the progeny. Shawky S; Milaat W(2001) highlights the health consequences of early marriage of girls, a predominant social and cultural feature among the Arab community in the Arab countries. The study sort to review the consequences of early marriage and subsequently early pregnancy on the maternal and infant health, the pregnancy results in the reproductive period, incidence of miscarriage and the various risk factors involved. Six health care units in the Jehhad city were randomly selected, and data relating to these issues were collected from them. The study results revealed that 26.5% of the study populations were married before the age of sixteen, and out of this one third was mothers before they were twenty years old. Married women below sixteen were mostly smokers, illiterates or married to a close relative. Girls married earlier than sixteen are at the highest risk of suffering, miscarriages, still births or certain chronic illness either for the mother or progeny. Apart from these women married young suffer psychological traumas and insecurities. There was significant lack of information regarding the various risks involved in early marriage and conception for both the other and the child. Thus the study established that early marriage is detrimental to the health of the mother and progeny and should not be encouraged. Cultural norms should not become a deterrent in eliminating this unhealthy practice. The study established that the health risk for the mother and progeny is high not just in the first pregnancy but also throughout the reproductive period. Apart from this early marriage can have tremendous psychological impact on the mother who is a child herself and is not equipped with the psychological and physical demands of parenting. Early marriage also augments the risks and insecurities involved in marriage and reproduction and place the women at a more vulnerable position. (Shawky S; Milaat W. 2001. Cumulative impact of early maternal marital age during the childbearing period.) Although marriage and family therapists are being called on to help at-risk families, some say that clinicians have insufficient knowledge about the impact of policies on families involved in the foster care system. The purpose of this qualitative investigation was to identify how the Adoption and Safe Families Act informs decision making, to recognize trends in decisions regarding termination of parental rights of parents with mental health issues, and to explore treatment issues of families involved in the foster care system. Results indicate that court cases decided after the implementation of the Adoption and Safe Families Act are likely to result in termination of parental rights. Implications for clinicians and researchers are discussed.( McWey LM; Henderson. 2006. Mental health issues and the foster care system: an examination of the impact of the Adoption and Safe Families Act) There have been voluminous data regarding the impact of various cultural norms concerning marriage in various communities, on the health of women, children. The consequences are not restricted only to physical and psychological health. The impact is reverberated in the social body called family and it’s functioning. The basic aim of this study was to evaluate the psychological well-being, satisfaction level both in life and the relationship of marriage, as well as family operation in individuals in polygamous relationship and women involved in monogamous relationship in ethnic communities. Three hundred and fifty two Bedouin-Arab women participated in this participated in this study. Sixty-seven percentages (235) of these women were in a monogamous relationship while thirty three percent (117) were involved in a polygamous relationship of marriage. The study results reveal that the distractions relating to the above issues among the women involved in monogamous and polygamous marriages. It was found that women in polygamous marriages showed a higher incidence of psychological stress, anxiety, phobia and other somatic ailments and traits. Family functioning was significantly more problematic among women involved in polygamous relationship while there was low satisfaction in life and martial relationship. Based on the study results steps should be taken to enhance awareness about the negative impact of polygamous marriages on the institution of family, social life, health as well as satisfaction of the individuals involved. (Al-Krenawi A; Graham JR.. 2006. A comparison of family functioning, life and marital satisfaction, and mental health of women in polygamous and monogamous marriages)) In certain cultures children out side marriage are socially unacceptable. In these societies very late marriages may jeopardize the chances of women regarding child bearing. Late marriage can result insignificantly reducing the reproductive period of women. Thus fertility of women is affected and the number of children who can be produced in such society is reduced. Thus in such cultural communities and societies, late marriage can contribute to reduction in population or effect population increase in a negative way. In this particular study the impact of cultural norms in Nepal influencing the age of marriage and in turn its effect on the fertility of women is examined. The study result revealed that when the age of marriage was increased the overall fertility of women declined. The study also revealed that increase in female education and accessibility to education also contributed to the increase in marriage age as well as to the reduction in fertility. The impact of enhancement in female education on, fertility reduction and increase in marriage age was more than that due to increase in male education. This study has great significance for third world countries facing the problem of population growth. There is an urgent need for making education accessible to both genders, especially women to minimize the negative effect of marriage on growth. ( Maitra P. 2004. Effect of socioeconomic characteristics on age at marriage and total fertility in Nepal.) Most married individuals come into the institution with certain convictions, abiding values and presumptions attached with the institution of marriage. The institution of marriage comes with the value that both the partners would support each other in health as well as in sickness. This particular study examines the changes that care giving spouses of dementia patients undergo following the commencement of the disease. The effect on the overall milieu, and relationship of marriage concerning both its physical (sexual) and psychological effect on the care giver spouse is examined in this study. In this study a partially structured telephonic interview of the care giver spouse in the Eastern Finland was undertaken. The caregiver partners of forty two demented patients were considered for the study. The study results revealed that there was a profound reduction in the psychological as well as physical satisfaction evident in the caregiver spouses following the commencement of the disease as compared to that before. Sixty percent of the caregiver had noted negative sexual behaviour trait, or performance, while one among ten of the respondents had experienced certain positive sexual behaviour in the patient. One third of the patients became more loving to their care giver. The overall marriage milieu was found to be more or less unaffected. Those in home care for varying time periods of three, five and seven years still participated in sexual intercourse though the numbers progressively declined with increase in number of years send in home care. The study results reveal that although dementia can have many negative influences on relationship of marriage there can be certain positive influence. Certain aspects of marriage generally remain unchanged in the present case. The onset of dementia was not found to influence sexual participation as much as the onset of aging in married couple. ( Kivelä SL; Sulkava R,2002, Spouse caregivers' perceptions of influence of dementia on marriage). This study examined the impact of various life occurrences like marriage on the psychological health and well being of married individuals. The study results revealed that getting married could add to happiness quotient in similar way to a perk (70,000 pound of income increase) or significant professional incentive. Physical Health and happiness are intricately interwoven. Happiness can enhance ones chances of remaining healthy. The study revealed a broken marriage on widowhood produces the same psychological trauma as losing 170, 000 pounds of extra income. The study also supports the view that happiness is a relative concept and so is happiness in marriage. Well-being or happiness in marriage or other life events depends to a large extent on how one compares that event in personal life to the same in another. Physical well-being is greatly influenced by psychological health. (Clark AE; Oswald AJ. 2002.A simple statistical method for measuring how life events affect happiness) In this a study the impact of marital changes and status on the physical health and well-being of men and women was examined. The study results reveal that changes and differences in marital status manifest themselves more on the physical health when there is dissolution of marriage when compared to the various beneficial effects on health while in a married relationship. In male respondents self-assessment, the various stress and strain resulting from dissolution in marriage and its detrimental effect on health was more pronounced but this was not the case among female respondents. Lastly the manner in which life has unfolded plays a significant role in diminishing or moderating the impact of changes in marital relationship and status as well as gender. (Williams K; Umberson D . 2004. Marital status, marital transitions, and health: a gendered life course perspective) The compilation of various study results in this essay brings out the point that cultural differences, age as well as gender in relationship to marriage can play a significant role effecting health among married people as well as the family involved. Reference 1. Al-Krenawi A; Graham JR. (2006). A comparison of family functioning, life and marital satisfaction, and mental health of women in polygamous and monogamous marriages. Int J Soc Psychiatry.  ; 52(1):5-17 (ISSN: 0020-7640) 2. Clark AE; Oswald AJ. (2002).A simple statistical method for measuring how life events affect happiness.Int J Epidemiol.; 31(6):1139-44; discussion 1144-46 (ISSN: 0300-5771). DELTA. 3. Eloniemi-Sulkava U et. al;  (2002) . A simple statistical method for measuring how life events affect happiness. Int Psychogeriatr.; 14(1):47-58 (ISSN: 1041-6102).Department of Public Health and General Practice, University of Kuopio, Finland. 4. J Marital Fam Ther, McWey LM, Henderson TL;  ; ( 2006). Tice SN (ISSN: 0194-472X). Mental health issues and the foster care system: an examination of the impact of the Adoption and Safe Families Act Department of Family and Child Sciences, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida. 5. Kiecolt-Glaser JK; Newton TL . 2001. Marriage and health: his and hers. Psychol Bull. (ISSN: 0033-2909).Department of Psychiatry, Ohio State University College of Medicine 6. Maitra P. (2004). Effect of socioeconomic characteristics on age at marriage and total fertility in Nepal.J Health Popul Nutr.  ; 22(1):84-96 (ISSN: 1606-0997). Department of Economics, Monash University. 7. Shawky S; Milaat W, . (2001). Cumulative impact of early maternal marital age during the child bearing period. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol.; 15(1):27-33 (ISSN: 0269-5022).Department of Community Medicine and Primary Heath Care, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences. 8. Williams K; Umberson D . 2004. Marital status, marital transitions, and health: a gendered life course perspective.J Health Soc Behav.  ; 45(1):81-98 (ISSN: 0022-1465). Department of Sociology, , Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA. williams.2339@osu.edu Read More