Extension of Marriage Benefit to Long-Distance
Relationship: Comparative Evidence from East Asia
Tidarat Puranachaikere MD¹ , ², Bahareh Sahebi PsyD¹, Christine M Aiello MS¹, Shveta Kumaria PhD¹, Tamara G Sher PhD¹
Affiliation : ¹ The Family Institute, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA ² Faculty of Medicine Siriraj hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
Background : Being married is related to better physical and mental health compared to being single or in an unmarried relationship. For those
in long-distance relationship (LDR), there are mixed findings in psychological and physical health outcomes when compared to individuals in
proximal relationship (PR).
Objective : To explore the health differences between those in LDRs and PRs in a larger and non-Western sample with more health behaviors than had been previously assessed.
Materials and Methods : The present study analyzed the data from the East Asian Social Survey (EASS) comparing health variables and health habits between LDR and PR participants. There were 7,145 respondents including 2,750 in LDR and 4,395 in PR. Physical and mental health were measured using SF-12 version 2, while, the frequency of smoking, drinking alcohol, and engaging in physical activity were used to assess health habits. Univariate analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to control the confounding effect.
Results : The results suggested that PR participants reported better overall mental health, while those in LDRs were healthier in terms of less alcohol use. The overall physical health did not differ across the groups. Moreover, the present study uncovered an unexpected number of LDR couples in China compared to the other countries assessed.
Conclusion : The present study provided further understanding of the connection between LDR and health in a large sample across the countries.
Received 9 July 2020 | Revised 30 September 2020 | Accepted 7 October 2020
doi.org/10.35755/jmedassocthai.2021.03.11614
Keywords :
Keywords : Health status, Health behavior, Marital relationship, Marital status, Long-distance relationship
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