Relationships can have long-term health effects

Whom you live with and whether you’re single, married, divorced or widowed can offer clues to your health decades later, studies suggest.

Research comparing the health and well-being of varied states of pairings and singledom suggests that living with aging parents or grandchildren takes a toll on adults’ health. And the research shows that any disruption to marriage, such as divorce or a spouse’s death, can have repercussions years later.

“Talk about a scar on people’s health,” sociologist Linda Waite of the University of Chicago told about 1,700 marital therapists, marriage educators and others at the ninth annual Smart Marriages conference, which wrapped up here Sunday.

She says marriage’s benefits derive from social connection, risk sharing, specialization of household tasks and economies of scale.

Waite is among researchers who offered new findings about relationships to an audience made up largely of those who help couples through trying times.

Read the full article: Relationships can affect your health years later

Related article: Feeling Sick? How’s Your Marriage?

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