Married women suffer fewer problems: Study | Metro

A study by Toronto?s St. Michael?s Hospital has found pregnant women who are married are less likely to face spousal abuse or to have substance abuse problems or post-partum depression.

Dr. Marcelo Urquia, an epidemiologist at the hospital?s Centre for Inner City Health, analyzed data from the 2006/07 Canadian Maternity Experiences Survey, a nationwide sample of 6,421 child-bearing women compiled by the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Urquia?s study found that 10.6 per cent of married women reported partner abuse, substance abuse or post-partum depression. The figure rose to 20 per cent for women living in common-law relationships and even higher ? 35 per cent ? for single women. Most dramatically, it rose to 67 per cent for women who were separated or divorced in the year prior to the birth of a child.

The study was published Thursday, Dec. 13, in the American Journal of Public Health.

?We expected to see differences, but not as big,? Urquia said.

?One cannot recommend people get married, that is their choice. But what this (study) is showing is that those who commit to marriage may have some characteristics that make them different from others and those characteristics play a protective role for psycho-social well-being,? Urquia said.

The study also showed the longer the relationship among the common-law, the better a woman?s chances of not suffering abuse by her partner, having a substance abuse problem or having post-partum depression, though they still experienced more problems as opposed to married women, who experienced higher well-being from the beginning of their marriages.

Urquia said the study was motivated by the increasing number of children being born in Canada outside of traditional marriage. The figure is about 30 per cent today, a dramatic increase from 9 per cent in 1971.

A future study of the impact on children of different relationships ?marriage, habitation or singlehood ? would be beneficial, Urquia said.

Source: http://metronews.ca/news/canada/477369/married-women-suffer-fewer-problems-study/

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