Family Status and Health Behaviours by Debra Umberson

In this second article on "Family Status and Health Behaviours," Debra Umberson (1987) uses social support literature to discuss the relationship between health behaviors social relationships like the family status. There is a research gap on how the social integration is linked to the health outcomes that remains unexplored. Using the social integration framework, this article proved that family roles have the effect of promoting social control of individual health behavior that has an impact on subsequent mortality.

Umberson (1987) presents a rich literature review that proves that people who don’t form social relationships especially the unmarried are likely to encounter negative health behaviors and their mortality rate is high. The author also used the social control model to showcase how family ties posit positive implications on individual health. Umberson (1987) argues that is possible for the people you relate with to have direct control over the intentions you have over risky health behaviors and change your opinion to opt for beneficial resolution. Umberson (1987) used a sample national population of about 2,246 participants in the United States to analyze the relationship between gender and marital roles on mental health. However, the information discussed does not have estimates in the form of statistics to express the exact figures from the research of the population affected by this phenomenon. The findings were limited as they focused only on marital ties and parenting. If the author incorporated the impact of other formal relationships like friendships, there could have been deeper understanding. The study produced significant results that indicated that parenting and marriage relationships are associated with a low risk of negative health behaviors. The population sample of 2,246 participants that the author opted to use in the analysis was quite small to be generalized in the entire American population and therefore could not precisely capture the trends of social behaviors. The social ties act as the controllers as people have a fear of losing or breaking them if they engage in harmful activities that threaten their health. This segment shows the importance of having constructive social engagements like marriage since they have a positive impact on individual health.

Umberson (1987) shared a strong opinion on how social ties have a positive effect on personal positive health behaviors. The findings describe men as the most beneficiaries. However, there is an omission of the contribution by other forms of social ties on health behaviors. Future research analysis with a more significant sample population and diverse social relationships will provide enough evidence on social relationships and health behavior.