Predictors of Subjective Health Among Spouses and Its Relations With Happiness: A Multilevel Analysis in a Nationwide Survey in Turkey

Furkan Tosyali, Ezgi Coban-Tosyali and Mehmet Harma ()
Additional contact information
Furkan Tosyali: Düzce University
Ezgi Coban-Tosyali: Middle East Technical University
Mehmet Harma: University of Akureyri

Journal of Happiness Studies, 2024, vol. 25, issue 6, No 2, 20 pages

Abstract: Abstract The current study aims to examine predictors of subjective health, including its relation with happiness, at the individual and family levels. For this purpose, we analyzed data collected from spouses representing each family (9,634 families, N = 19,268). A multilevel analysis was conducted to examine both individual- and family-level variables associated with subjective health evaluations. Individual-level variables were gender, age, education, employment, presence of chronic illness, smoking, alcohol use, and individual happiness. Family-level variables were socioeconomic status, number of children, household size, length of the marriage (in a year), presence of an elderly person who needs care in the household, presence of a disabled person who needs care in the household, and family happiness. The results showed that subjective health is enhanced by being man, younger, employed, highly educated, free from chronic illness, and experiencing greater levels of happiness at the individual level. In addition, poorer subjective health is associated with caring for an elderly or disabled family member and having a higher number of children in the household at the family level. However, individuals had better subjective health at the family level when socioeconomic status was higher, greater family happiness, and greater household size existed. The current study is important since research that simultaneously considers individual- and family-level happiness has been scarce in the literature. Thus, the findings would enhance the current understanding of the link between happiness and health.

Keywords: Self-rated health; Subjective health; Individual happiness; Family happiness; Multilevel analysis; Turkey (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10902-024-00769-0 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:25:y:2024:i:6:d:10.1007_s10902-024-00769-0

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... fe/journal/10902/PS2

DOI: 10.1007/s10902-024-00769-0

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Happiness Studies is currently edited by Antonella Delle Fave

More articles in Journal of Happiness Studies from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().