Recent studies linking marital status and health increasingly focus on marital trajectories to examine the relationship from a life course perspective. However, research has been slow to bridge the theoretical concept of a marital trajectory with its measurement. This study uses retrospective and prospective data to model the age-dependent effects…

Analysis of nationwide data on 2,099 African American suicides and 1,729 African American natural deaths indicates that being divorced or widowed significantly raises the odds of death by suicide, but being single does not. A parallel analysis for whites finds greater support for a link between marital status and suicide. (RJM)

This article uses longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to explore how changes in marital status affect the economic status of married women in their middle years. Results demonstrate that the economic status of women declines sharply when their marriages end. (Author/MC)

Compared cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses in a national sample of women widowed in mid-life. Longitudinal comparisons failed to demonstrate a significant decline in income or financial well-being upon the death of spouses. Data analysis indicated a major reliance on earnings of the widow and Social Security benefits. (Author/RC)