Marriage and Health in the Transition to Adulthood: Evidence for African Americans in the Add Health Study

Abstract

This article explores the relationships among early marriage (before age 26 years), cohabitation, and health for African Americans and Whites during the transition to adulthood using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). The study examines three categories of health outcomes relevant to young adulthood: physical health, mental health, and health risk behaviors. Lagged dependent variable models are used to examine the health effects of early marriage and cohabitation accounting for potential health selection into unions. The results indicate that early marriage by young adults does not have protective effects for African Americans; the authors also find more negative effects for African American men than for women. There are mixed results for Whites with some protective effects of marriage for binge drinking. Early marriage for African Americans and Whites is associated with increased body mass index. Cohabitation is uniformly associated with negative health outcomes for all racial and gender groups.