Effects of Mental Health on Couple Relationship Status

Nancy Reichman, Hope Corman and Kelly Noonan
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Nancy Reichman: Robert Wood Johnson Medical School & Princeton University
Hope Corman: Rider University & NBER
Kelly Noonan: Rider University & NBER

No 1473, Working Papers from Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing.

Abstract: We exploit the occurrence of postpartum depression (PPD), which has a random component according to the medical community, to estimate causal effects of a salient form of mental illness on couples? relationship status. We estimate single-equation models as well as bivariate probit models that address the endogeneity of PPD. We find that this relatively prevalent mental illness reduces the probability the couples are married (by 22?24%) as well the probability that they are living together (married or cohabiting) (by 24?26%) three years after the birth of the child. Models stratified by relationship status at the time of the birth indicate that PPD makes it more likely that unions dissolve (particularly among baseline cohabitors) and less likely that unions are formed (particularly among baseline non-cohabitors). The findings contribute to the literature on the effects of mental illness on relationships and to the broader literature on socioeconomic status and health.

Keywords: postpartum depression; motherhood; families; mental illness; relationship status (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D19 D63 I19 J12 J13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013-06
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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