Marital Status and Mental Disorder: Evidence in Favor of a Behavioral Model

Abstract

Research has consistently shown that marital status and rates of mental disorder are related, but few studies provide an answer to the causal question: Does marital status determine mental status, as a social causation model of individual attributes would stipulate, or does mental status cause marital status, as an individual causation model of social status would stipulate? Analysis of admissions to Tennessee state mental hospitals between 1956 and 1965 consistently supports the view that a person's marital status is determined more by mental status and behavior rather than the reverse. One of the most consistent findings in research on social aspects of illness is that marital status and mental illness are related. In a comprehensive review of the literature, Gove reports that almost all studies show that the nonmarried have higher rates than the married, and that the findings