Diabetes Risk and Disease Management in Later Life: A National Longitudinal Study of the Role of Marital Quality

Objectives:

We assess the association between marital quality and both the risk of developing diabetes and the management of diabetes after its onset in later life.

Method:

We use data from the first two waves of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project to estimate regression models with lagged dependent variables. The sample includes 1,228 married respondents, among whom 389 were diabetic. Those with either a reported diagnosis or with HbA1c ≥ 6.5% are identified diabetic. We categorize diabetic respondents into three groups: controlled, undiagnosed, and uncontrolled diabetes. We conduct factor analysis to construct positive and negative marital quality scales.

Results:

For women, an increase in positive marital quality between Waves 1 and 2 is related to a lower risk of being diabetic at Wave 2, net of diabetes status at Wave 1; surprisingly, for men, an increase in negative marital quality between Waves 1 and 2 is related to both a lower risk of being diabetic at Wave 2 and a higher chance of controlling diabetes at Wave 2 after its onset.

Discussion:

Our results challenge the traditional assumption that negative marital quality is always detrimental to health and encourage family scholars to distinguish different sources and types of negative marital quality.

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