© January 2007, Patrice L. Dickerson
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The Impact of Marital Status and Social Support on
Psychological Distress Among African American Women
Patrice L. Dickerson
College of Social & Behavioral Sciences
The Ohio State University
ABSTRACT: The health effects of marriage are well documented and the research consistently shows that
marriage positively affects mental and physical health. Unmarried persons are considered to have worse health than
married persons because they lack the social and financial resources to which married persons have access.
Although the relationship between marriage, social support, and health has been strongly established, this should not
suggest that the unmarried lack access to social support systems and are doomed to ill health. Using data from the
National Survey of Black Americans, this study examines the nature of the relationships between marital status,
social support and psychological well-being. The findings suggest that marriage is not as beneficial to psychological
well-being as previous studies have suggested, at least not for Black women. Although married women are less
distressed than divorced or separated women, they are actually more distressed than widowed or never-married
women. Married women do, however, have access to more social support. Yet, the spousal support married women
receive is not associated with their mental health. Although spousal support did not protect married women from
psychological distress, I did find that certain types of social support are associated with higher levels of distress.
INTRODUCTION
The health effects of marriage are well documented and the research consistently shows that marriage
positively affects mental and physical health. Marriage provides security and a network of help and support, which
can be particularly beneficial in dealing with stress and in recovering from illnesses (Waite, 1995). Unmarried
persons are considered to have worse health than married persons because they lack the social and financial
resources to which married persons have access.
Although the relationship between marriage, social support, and health has been strongly established, this
should not suggest that the non-married have no access to social support systems and are therefore doomed to
constantly be plagued by ill health. Instead, the non-married may develop patterns of social support different from
those used by individuals in other marital statuses (Barrett, 1999). In fact, it has been found that the social support
systems of the non-married differ from those of the married. This suggests that the non-married do not lack social
support completely, but have access to different types of social support than the married. Individuals who live alone
may compensate for the lack of social interaction within the home through greater social interaction with friends and
relatives; greater attendance at church, concerts, and movies; and more volunteerism (Rogers, 1996), all of which
could be protective of health.
Also, it is no longer considered deviant to remain unmarried (Cherlin, 1992). Unmarried persons can
engage in activities formerly reserved for the married (such as sexual relations and living together) without fear of
stigmatization (Glenn & Weaver, 1988). Changing trends in marital behavior, specifically declining marriage rates,
may diminish the association between marital status and health. It is likely that as single life becomes more
common and accepted it may also become less disadvantaged and therefore may be less associated with poor health
(Marks, 1996; Tucker & Mitchell-Kernan, 1998). It can be assumed that as non-marriage becomes more normative,
individuals may become more resilient and therefore may not be as vulnerable to the disadvantages associated with
non-marriage in the past. Similarly, knowing that they will lack the support of a spouse, unmarried individuals may
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Convention