Living alone, partnership history and psychological well-being in mid-life

Demey, Dieter, Berrington, Ann, Evandrou, Maria and Falkingham, Jane (2013) Living alone, partnership history and psychological well-being in mid-life. Society for Longitudinal and Life Course Studies International Conference, Amsterdam, Netherlands. 23 - 25 Sep 2013.

Abstract

There is strong empirical evidence that psychological well-being deteriorates in a relatively short period surrounding a union dissolution, but also that experiencing multiple union transitions can have longer lasting consequences for psychological well-being. However, previous studies have rarely jointly considered the duration since the most recent union dissolution and the number of union transitions. This study uses data from the United Kingdom Household Longitudinal Survey (UKHLS) to investigate how the time since the most recent union dissolution and the number of union dissolutions are related to two indicators of psychological well-being, namely dissatisfaction with life and GHQ-12 caseness. The sample is restricted to 50-64 year old British men and women who are living alone and have ever been in a co-residential union. Preliminary findings show lower psychological well-being in the two years following a union dissolution. Furthermore, psychological well-being is also lower for those who have experienced multiple union dissolutions. These findings are reported for both men and women, and remain unaltered when controlling for age, parenthood status and socio-economic status. However, the findings differ for the two measures of psychological well-being. These findings indicate that several aspects of partnership history are related to psychological well-being.

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Contributors

Author: Ann Berrington

Author: Maria Evandrou

Author: Jane Falkingham

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