Open AccessFamily Structure and Fathers' Well-Being: Trajectories of Mental Health and Self-Rated Health
Author(s) -
Sarah O. Meadows
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of health and social behavior/journal of health and social behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.649
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 2150-6000
pISSN - 0022-1465
DOI - 10.1177/002214650905000201
Subject(s) - cohabitation , mental health , psychology , causation , developmental psychology , self rated health , disadvantage , marital status , demography , psychiatry , sociology , geography , political science , population , law , archaeology
The association between marital status and health among men has been well documented, but few studies track health trajectories following family structure transitions among unmarried fathers. Using the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study this article examines trajectories of paternal mental health and self-rated health, focusing on transitions into and out of residential relationships with the child's biological mother or a new partner during a five-year post-birth period (N = 4,331). Continuously married fathers report higher time-specific self-rated health and fewer mental health problems than continuously single fathers, controlling for underlying health trajectories. The disparity, however does not increase over time, providing little support for the marital resource model during these years. Static group differences suggest that resources fathers carry with them into unions may buffer them from the negative effects of union dissolution. The implications of these findings for cohabitation, as well as selection and causation arguments, are also discussed.