Linked Lives: Does Disability and Marital Quality Influence Risk of Marital Dissolution among Older Couples?

Using fourteen waves of data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a longitudinal panel survey with respondents in the United States, this research explores whether marital quality—as measured by reports of enjoyment of time together—influences risk of divorce or separation when either spouse acquires basic care disability. Discrete-time event history models with multiple competing events were estimated using multinomial logistic regression. Respondents were followed until they experienced the focal event (i.e., divorce or separation) or right-hand censoring (i.e., a competing event or were still married at the end of observation). Disability among wives was predictive of divorce/separation in the main effects model. Low levels of marital quality (i.e., enjoy time together) were associated with marital dissolution. An interaction between marital quality and disability yielded a significant association among couples where at least one spouse acquired basic care disability. For couples who acquired disability, those who reported low enjoyment were more likely to divorce/separate than those with high enjoyment; however, the group with the highest predicted probability were couples with low enjoyment, but no acquired disability.

Divorced from Citizenship: Palestinian-Christian Women between the Church and the Jewish State

The vast multidisciplinary literature on marital dissolution tends to conceptualize divorce as a personal, individualist act that naturally resides in the domestic sphere. The article challenges this prevailing scholarly perspective by dissecting a substantially underexplored dimension of divorce as a citizenship-certifying act located squarely in the public sphere. Drawing on a pioneering qualitative study among Palestinian Christians in Israel as a case study, we argue that Israel’s divorce law, which locks Catholics into indissoluble marriages, should be recognized as a key state instrument for delineating the contours of citizenship—a boundary-demarcating apparatus between insiders and outsiders who are excluded from full and equal membership. The article provides novel insights into the complex interrelations between divorce, gender, and citizenship, showing how Palestinian-Christian women pay the price of a purportedly sex-neutral, no-exit regime. The article also illuminates a seldom-studied phenomenon we call “divorce conversion”: the act of changing one’s denomination for the sake of marital freedom, which is a hallmark of Palestinian-Christians’ third-rate status in the Jewish state. We conclude that divorce should be reconceptualized as a right to egalitarian female citizenship, serving as a basic precursor to women’s full participation in all spheres of life.

1153Marital dissolution in later life: Change in health behaviours and outcomes following divorce and widowhood

Background Marital dissolution, such as divorce and widowhood, are common life events with potentially important implications on health. Previous research has found that those who have divorced or widowed tended to have a higher risk of mortality, however, the mechanisms for the observed associations are not well understood. We aimed to examine the association of divorce and widowhood with subsequent changes in health-related lifestyles, psychological outcomes, and overall health and wellbeing within both immediate and longer terms. Methods We used data from the 45 and Up study collected at baseline (T1, 2006-09), first (T2, 2010) and second follow-up (T3, 2012-16). Martial status and health-related outcomes were self-reported at all three time-points using validated questionnaires. Nine outcomes were examined, including lifestyles (smoking, drinking, diet and physical activity), psychological outcomes (distress, anxiety and depression) and overall health/well-being (self-rated health and quality of life). Logistic regression and generalised estimating equations were conducted adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics. Results Of the 33184 participants who were married/co-habiting at T1, after 3.4 years, 2.9% became divorced and 2.4% widowed. Those who divorced had much higher odds of smoking, having poor quality of life, high psychological distress, anxiety and depression at T2. Similar but weaker associations were observed for those who became widowed. After another 5 years of follow-up, however, the associations were much attenuated towards the null. Conclusions We found strong adverse short-term effects of marital dissolution on health outcomes, particularly within the psychological health domain. The effects, however, seemed to attenuate in the longer terms.

Resilience, Post-Traumatic Growth, and Psychological Well-Being Among Adolescents Experiencing Parents’ Marital Dissolution

The marital dissolution as a traumatic event for children and adolescents might yield different outcomes for each adolescent. Previous studies suggested that adolescents who have high resilience tend to experience positive changes / post- traumatic growth following traumatic events, which results in higher well-being. Hence, it is necessary to conduct research about resilience and post-traumatic growth as predictors of psychological well-being among adolescents who have been through their parents’ marital dissolution. The recent study aims to investigate the relations among those variables. A total of 56 participants (mean age: 15.27; 66.1% female) who lived in Semarang completed three measurements. Correlational, t-test, and path analysis were applied. The result suggests that both resilience and post-traumatic growth significantly and positively correlated toward psychological well-being. Furthermore, post-traumatic growth was found to have a significant partial mediating effect on the relationship between resilience and psychological well-being. These findings suggest that though promoting resilience could improve the psychological well-being of adolescents who have been through their parents’ marital dissolution, clinicians need to ensure that adolescents experience post-traumatic growth through cognitive therapy or counseling sessions to achieve better psychological well-being.

Predictors of College Enrollment across the Life Course: Heterogeneity by Age and Gender

Undergraduate college-going is now undertaken well into adulthood, but knowledge about what leads individuals to enroll derives nearly entirely from the study of the “traditionally-aged”. I examine whether and how predictors of enrollment vary as individuals progress through the life-course using nationally representative data from the United States, following a cohort from ages 18–45. Measures of social background and academic preparation are only weakly predictive beyond age 24, while the effects of gender are largest after age 35. Marriage appears to be a barrier to enrollment among males and females, but only until age 25. Involuntary job loss spurs college-going most strongly among those aged 35 or older, and particularly among women. Among those over age 25, marital dissolution predicts enrollment positively among females but negatively among males.

Dimensions of HIV-related stigma in rural communities in Kenya and Uganda at the start of a large HIV ‘test and treat’ trial

HIV-related stigma is a frequently cited barrier to HIV testing and care engagement. A nuanced understanding of HIV-related stigma is critical for developing stigma-reduction interventions to optimize HIV-related outcomes. This qualitative study documented HIV-related stigma across eight communities in east Africa during the baseline year of a large HIV test-and-treat trial (SEARCH, NCT: 01864603), prior to implementation of widespread community HIV testing campaigns and efforts to link individuals with HIV to care and treatment. Findings revealed experiences of enacted, internalized and anticipated stigma that were highly gendered, and more pronounced in communities with lower HIV prevalence; women, overwhelmingly, both held and were targets of stigmatizing attitudes about HIV. Past experiences with enacted stigma included acts of segregation, verbal discrimination, physical violence, humiliation and rejection. Narratives among women, in particular, revealed acute internalized stigma including feelings of worthlessness, shame, embarrassment, and these resulted in anxiety and depression, including suicidality among a small number of women. Anticipated stigma included fears of marital dissolution, verbal and physical abuse, gossip and public ridicule. Anticipated stigma was especially salient for women who held internalized stigma and who had experienced enacted stigma from their partners. Anticipated stigma led to care avoidance, care-seeking at remote facilities, and hiding of HIV medications. Interventions aimed at reducing individual and community-level forms of stigma may be needed to improve the lives of PLHIV and fully realize the promise of test-and-treat strategies.