She’s prepared a study she hopes will be published in the next year that examines whether the link holds up with older African Americans.
According to numerous studies, including Bulanda’s, blacks report lower marital quality and more health problems than other ethnic groups.
“The consistent trend in sociology and family studies shows married people are healthier than people who aren’t married — but treating married people as if they’re all getting equal health benefits is not wise,” Bulanda said. “We know African Americans have lower marital quality than do whites on average, and we also know that African Americans import more stress on a daily basis in the form of racism, discrimination and lower economic status.”
Bulanda found a good marriage can act as a buffer to those stresses. Interestingly, a negative marital situation doesn’t have as strong of an effect as a positive one.
“What’s really important is that positive marital quality,” she said. “It’s that feeling that you have good support from your partner that protects health.”
Bulanda said a supportive marriage can equal positive health outcomes across the board, including lower depression, better mental and physical health and lower death rates.
Marva Sampson, of Madison Twp., will celebrate her 55th wedding anniversary with her husband, Norman, in September. She credits the success of her marriage to trust in her husband and faith in God.
“I think I still hold to my religious background and my upbringing,” she said. “I don’t believe in fussing and cussing and all of that. ... I thank God I’m still with my husband today because he’s a good provider.”
Bulanda’s study also attempts to answer whether or not other social sources can compensate for the lack of support from a spouse.
“There’s research showing (blacks) have very rich relationships outside of the marriage,” she said. “They have very supportive kin relationships, very supportive friendships.
“The question is, if the marital quality is a little bit lower are these other strong social support networks able to make up for it or compensate?”
Bulanda found no effects for that. Her research suggests that a person’s marital partner — the one individual a person sees and lives with on a daily basis — takes greater precedence in regards to positive health outcomes.
Gabe Artis, of Monroe, can relate. He and his wife, Deborah, have been married for 34 years. As a former General Motors employee, he said his stresses would often escalate because of work. He said Deborah would smooth the rough edges on many of his days.
“I think it would have been worse not having her by my side,” he said. “I know when I left that stressful atmosphere, I had her at home with the family. When I got there, no matter what was bothering me, she had a way of calming me down.”
Bulanda spent the past year on her forthcoming study, which was funded by the Michigan Center for Urban African American Aging Research.
In 1992, the University of Michigan began a large study which interviewed a national sample of about 12,000 people who were at least 65 years old. They were interviewed again every two years. More individuals were added to the study and by 2006 more than 20,000 people were part of the research.
For Bulanda’s purposes, she pulled 389 blacks out of the University of Michigan study who were married and older than 50. She tracked them and checked in with them for two years.
“It’s surprising that the positive social support is more consequential for health than negative social support,” she said. “I really thought having a spouse that criticizes you or blames you or is not supportive — that would be more consequential for physical health outcomes, but it’s not true.”
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